Joyous Celebration clears the air on reports SbuNoah is leaving

Fans were shooketh after reports surfaced this week that popular singer Sibusiso "SbuNoah" Mthembu was leaving Joyous Celebration to focus on his solo career.

According to Daily Sun, Sbu had parted ways with the award-winning gospel group after several years and was working on a new album.

But Joyous Celebration co-founder Jabu Hlongwane shut down the claims and said Sbu remains an important part of Joyous Celebration.

"The claims are not true. He is still with us and we are recording in Cape Town in December. "

Jabu said that even if the reports were true, it would not be out of the ordinary.

"How we work is we get young people, we get them on Joyous and we let them go after a certain period of time. It is never about an individual artists because we are not a group, we are like a school. They join us, they do practicals and they leave after a few years. There are people who have left before."

Jabu said that Sbu was recording a solo album but would be with the group the week following its release.

"We encourage artists to explore their music, even away from Joyous. A lot of our artists have released singles this year. They record while on Joyous. He is releasing his album but the next week we are recording Joyous Celebration 23."