Absolutely. A few scattered examples across my lifetime, staring around age 20 and up to today (I’m in my fifties):
Hamza Al-Din (Nubian)
the Beleza Tropical album co-produced by David Byrne (Brazilian Portuguese)
Before I was fluent in Spanish, already enjoying artists like Cafe Tacuba
Lots of Putumayo compilation CDs (introducing me to, for example, Africa’s Thomas Mapfumo and Angelique Kidjo)
Dungen (circa-2010 Swedish mellow psychedelic rock)
Hell, I listen to quite a bit that only the singer understands. If that.
Which group? Swahili isn’t really a South African language, so I’m curious.
I knew I should have looked up the language rather than go from old memory. Thanks for checking in.
This was Johnny Clegg & Savuka.
That’s isiZulu. And good taste!
Years before I started taking German (and I’m just barely a beginner now), I had a lot of Nina Hagen in my collection. Also Rammstein, and Peter Gabriel’s two German albums. First Gipsy Kings record (sung in Gitane), some mbaqanga compilations (Zulu) and a Datblygu disc (Welsh post-punk).
Lots of non-English languages at our house:
Wife is Japanese, so vintage J-pop makes a regular appearance.
The HU (Mongolian).
Peter Fox (German).
Gipsy Kings (Spanish).
Clannad, Enya (Irish).
Anuna (Irish and Latin).
I don’t speak any of those languages (though I’m slowly learning Japanese), but I like to look up translations of the lyrics so that I understand the gist of the songs.
So is the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, which I’ve listened to in the 80’s, or are they too passe and old-fashioned now?
I listen to ‘Il Volo’, the Italian tenors group, I think they are just thrilling.
Absolutely! Ali Farka Toure (Songhoy, Touareg, Fulani, and Bambara), Salif Keita (Bambara, Malinke), Amalia Rodriques (Portuguese), Buena Vista Social Club (Spanish), Enya (Irish) and many others.
Do I get any bonus points for singing in a language that I don’t understand?* 
The answer to your question is an enthusiastic ‘Yes!’, but let me break it down a bit.
Music in a second language that I’m working on. It’s a privilege that classical singers have, to learn a second language not by reading/writing, not by its poetry, but through its song! It’s a privilege I take very seriously, and I have studied French, German, Italian, and Russian for that very reason. I also listen to a lot of music in those languages for the purposes of learning to speak them better.
At very least, I feel strongly that I should at least understand the words I am singing, which has led me to listen to pieces that I have to perform in languages that I am less familiar with, in order to get the pronunciation and the nuance right, and to understand the meaning of each word in its context.
I’m an amateur ethnomusicologist, who is fascinated with the musics of other cultures. That has led me to listen to people singing in languages that I can’t even identify, let alone speak.
*It’s funny you should ask this right now - I got called on Friday to sub in for a Shabbat service at Holy Blossom Temple - 8 voices, 2 to a part. 9:30 rehearsal, 10:30 - 12:30 service. I said “Sure!”. They sent me a link to a Google Drive with 64 pages of music in it, all of it in Hebrew!
Now, I’ve done pretty well on Level 1 Hebrew in Duolingo, but this was way beyond that! And because of the time line, I didn’t have a clue what I was trying to say, let alone what was actually coming out of my mouth - I hate working like that, but I didn’t have the time to learn what the words mean. I just took it on faith that I was saying something appropriate to the occasion. But - they knew it was my first time doing a Jewish service, and they were very kind and understanding. And they expressed their gratitude many times over.
At the end of the service, I went to give the music back, and the cantor said ‘Hang on to it, and keep the yarmulke - you did well, you’re on my list, and you’ll be back.’. Well, that was a gratifying end to my afternoon there!
No, who listens to albums these days^? But plenty of individual non-English songs. Sometimes I know some of the language, but not well enough to understand most songs.
^ There are only a few albums that, in the right mood, are much better than their individual songs. These are generally older ones.
Oh I forgot earlier…when I was a Hong Kong movie obsessive back in the 90s, I had a handful of Cantopop albums on cassette, because they had movie theme songs on them (Leslie Cheung’s title tracks from the A Better Tomorrow movies and an Anita Mui tape), and a couple of CDs, one of Jackie Chan singing his theme songs and a Faye Wong disc that had her Chinese-language cover of “Dreams” by The Cranberries, which had been used in Chungking Express. I don’t speak a word of Cantonese.
Haven’t listened to entire albums in ages. But I’m a big fan of Maggie MacNeal and I listen to her videos in Dutch and German just as much as English. I don’t care if I understand the lyrics, I just find them soothing.
All the time! Usually I have liner notes so I have some idea what they’re saying.
Sigur Rós from Iceland. Of course they sing in Icelandic but sometimes in a language they made up. I can’t tell the difference.
It’s all gloriously beautiful!
Yes,
The Hu, Tengger Cavalry, Nine Treasures,
Baby Metal of course, Ladybaby,
FHero, Milli, Tang Bad Voice, Twopee Southside
Heilung, Zergananda, Danheim, Wardruna, Voluspá
That’s just some of who I listen to who primarily don’t perform in english
Raises hand. Modern or old, I primarily listen to albums. When I’m in a mood, I want to hear a whole cohesive work by an artist, not a mix tape.
Anyway, sure. I listen to a lot of music in languages I mostly don’t understand, but can pick out words and phrases here and there (I know a good number of languages very badly.) In particular, I like Serbian wedding brass band type music (Goran Bregovic, Boban Markovic, though Bregovic is more wide stylistically) and Indian Bollywood, anything Punjabi with a dhol (like bhangra music), that sort of stuff.
Sure, in a mood. But you aren’t under the illusion everyone does this.
Of course not, but among my cohort, it is usual.
I’m no serious music afficianado, nor a musician. Call me Mr. Top 40.
But to me an album just a grab-bag of tunes by one group done over a fairly short number of months or years and chosen mostly to add up to the right total length and including 1 or 2 big hits and the rest is non-charting filler.
The idea there’s any sort of coherent artistic meaning or story arc or musical theme to an album as a whole is just amazing to me.
I’m not saying you’re wrong; you’re the expert and I’m not. I’m just ignorantly mystified.
Nope. I’m a singer, and lyrics matter to me: I don’t enjoy listening to vocals I can’t understand, and the only other language I’ll sing in is French.