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The song was first recorded by its writer, Solomon Linda , and his group, The Evening Birds , in 1939 under the title "Mbube". The song's Zulu lyrics told the story of a group of men hunting a sleeping lion. "Mbube" became a hit throughout present-day Swaziland and sold about one hundred thousand copies during the 1940s.

In 1952, the song was covered as an instrumental by American folk group The Weavers as "Wimoweh", a mishearing of the chorus of 'uyimbube' (meaning "he is a lion"), and again in 1959 by The Kingston Trio. For The Tokens ' 1961 cover, a new set of lyrics, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", was written by George Weiss , Luigi Creatore , and Hugo Peretti , based upon the meaning of the original song. The Tokens' version rose to number one on the Billboard charts and still receives fairly frequent replay on many American oldies radioFor other uses see: radio (disambiguation Radio is a technology that allows the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of light. Radio waves Radio waves are a form of electromagnetic radiation, and are stations. Since then, "Wimoweh"/"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" has remained popular and frequently covered in the US.

Some other coversIn pop music a cover version is a new rendition of a previously recorded song. Pop musicians may play covers as a tribute to the original performer or group, to win audiences who like to hear a familiar song, to increase their chance of success by using a of the song include those by Brian EnoBrian Peter George St. Jean le Baptiste de la Salle Eno usually given as Eno (born May 15, 1948), is an electronic musician, producer, and music theorist who started his musical career with Roxy Music. He then went on to produce a number of highly eclecti, REMis a rock band formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980 by Michael Stipe (vocals), Bill Berry (drums), Peter Buck (guitar) and Mike Mills (bass). Throughout the 1980s, while signed to the independent label I. they achieved a growing cult status due mainly to Sti, Nanci GriffithNanci Griffith born July 6 1953, is a singer, guitarist and songwriter from Texas. Her career has spanned a variety of musical genres, predominantly country and folk, and what she terms "folkabilly. She won a 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk A, Miriam MakebaMiriam Makeba is a South African singer. In 1966, she received the Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording together with Harry Belafonte. In 2002, she shared the Polar Music Prize with Sofia Gubaidulina. In 2004 she was voted 38th in the Top 100 Great South, The Nylons , *NSYNCNSYNC is a five-part pop music vocal group, specifically a boy band, formed in Orlando, Florida. The group members are James Lance Bass, Joshua Scott Chasez (JC), Joseph Anthony Fatone Junior (Joey), Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick (Chris), and Justin Randal, Sandra BernhardSandra Bernhard (born June 6 1955 in suburban Flint, Michigan) is a United States actor, entertainer, and comedian. The brassy and outspoken performance artist first gained attention in the late 1970s with her stand-up comedy. She has since become a house, Dave Newman, Tight Fit , those heard in the film and Broadway versions of The Lion King, and — with some typically odd alterations — They Might Be Giants' "The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)".

In July 2004 the song became the subject of a lawsuit between the family of its writer Solomon Linda and Disney. The suit claims that Disney owes $1.6 million in royalties for its use in the film The Lion King.