George and Wilson Kinyonga began as musicians in their home town Tanga in Tanzania when they joined Jamhuri Jazz Band in 1966.
In 1970 they moved to Kenya and formed Simba Wanyika, which would become one of the most influential bands in the history of East African music.
[1] Little is known about Kinyonga's mother apart from a few fragments of information alluded to by her sons during various interviews, but what is known is that she was from Kigoma in western Tanzania.
Kinyonga's Father Kisaka was a truck driver who was trained by the colonial army during World War II.
With their father away most of the time, life under their step mother became unbearable, and the boys started to stay away from home, always hanging out on the streets of tanga, something which made them to be involved in music.
[2] They crossed into Kenya and settled in Mombasa after looking for work in Nairobi with no success, and later founded the Simba Wanyika band.