Miriam Makeba, in full Zensi Miriam Makeba, was born on March 4, 1932, in Prospect Township, near Johannesburg, South Africa—died on November 10, 2008, in Castel Volturno, near Naples, Italy.
The South African-born singer who became known as Mama Africa was one of the world’s most prominent Black African performers in the 20th century.
The daughter of a Swazi mother and a Xhosa father, Makeba grew up in Sophiatown, a segregated Black township outside of Johannesburg, and began singing in a school choir at an early age.
She became a professional vocalist in 1954, performing primarily in southern Africa. By the late 1950s, her singing and recording had made her well-known in South Africa, and her appearance in the documentary film Come Back, Africa (1959) attracted the interest of Harry Belafonte and other American performers.
With their help, Makeba 1959 settled in the United States, where she embarked on a successful singing and recording career. She sang a variety of popular songs but especially excelled at Xhosa and Zulu songs, which she introduced to Western audiences.
She also became known for songs that were critical of apartheid. In 1960 she was denied reentry into South Africa, and she lived in exile for three decades thereafter.
In 1963 the South African government banned her records and revoked her passport. In 1964 she married trumpeter and fellow Belafonte protégé Hugh Masekela.
Although the couple divorced two years later, they maintained a close professional relationship. In 1965 she and Belafonte won a Grammy Award for best folk recording for their album An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba.
What was Miriam Makeba’s cause of death?
She died of a heart attack during a 2008 concert in Italy. Makeba was among the first African musicians to receive worldwide recognition.
She brought African music to a Western audience and popularized the world music and Afropop genres.
Source: Ghanafuo.com
