Nashil Pichen Kazembe was born in 1932 near the Congolese border, in Kaputa, Northern Province, Zambia.
He had an affinity for music at an early age, and taught himself how to play banjos and later a guitar.
In 1953, he went to work in the mines in South Africa, where he formed his first band, the Bantu Negroes
The band was eventually disbanded after Kazembe returned to Zambia the following year.
Kazembe also spent time in Congo, Uganda, and Kenya, the latter being where he settled in 1958.
His musical activities in Nairobi included numerous collaborations with fellow Zambian emigre Peter Totsi.
Nashil Pichen ended his career as a solo artist after moving from Kenya to Lusaka.
His big hit “A-Phiri Anabwera” was the first single to sell more than 50,000 units in Zambia.
He returned to Zambia in the 1980s and recorded further albums there, and enjoyed popularity in Zimbabwe as well.
Kazembe died in 1991. Although he had a successful music career, at the time of his death he was a very poor man; no family members or offspring are known.