Gene Rockwell

Gene was born Gert Smit in 1944 in the town of Krugersdorp in the then Transvaal province of South Africa. He died at the age of 53 years, on 3 July 1998, of cancer.^{[citation needed]}

He won his first talent competition at the age of 15, in Durban's "Little Top". Still in his teens, Gene formed The Blue Angels, later to become The Falcons, in 1963, with whom he played guitar and sang his famous gritty-blues-style songs. The original line up of the Falcons were George Usher (lead guitar), Jannie Heyns (bass guitar), Clive Swegman (rhythm guitar), Frank Rickson (drums). They played many packed out shows, becoming a staple of the dance scene in South Africa, particularly Durban.^{[citation needed]}