Last week we told you about a few of our African Heroes, we also asked YOU to suggest some and so this week we’ll be doing a run down of some of the inspiring people you mentioned.
“I’m not a political singer… I don’t know what the word means. People think I consciously decided to tell the world what was happening in South Africa. No! I was singing about my life, and in South Africa we always sang about what was happening to us – especially the things that hurt us.” Miriam Makeba.
Miriam Makeba, Grammy Award winning singer and civil rights activist was so beloved she earned the nickname Mama Africa
Miriam was born on the 4th March 1932 in Johannesburg. She began singing as a young girl in her church choir and her big break came in 1952 when she toured South Africa with The Manhattan Brothers.
Miriam’s most well known song, ‘Pata Pata’ was first released in South Africa in 1957 and was released ten years later in the U.S where reached no 12 in the charts!
She visited Europe and in 1958 met Harry Belafonte who helped her gain entry to the US and establish herself as a singer. She was credited with popularising African music in Europe and the US during the 1960s and was the first South African to win a Grammy award. She was among the performing artists that sang at the former US President, John F. Kennedy’s birthday at Madison Square Garden in 1962.
An outspoken critic of apartheid through her music, Miriam’s citizenship was revoked in 1960 forcing her to live in exile. The world rallied around the singer; Guinea (where she lived for 15 years before moving to Brussels following the death of her daughter) , Belgium and Ghana all issued her passports and she was granted honoury citizenship in ten countries. Following his release in February 1990 Nelson Mandela persuaded Miriam Makeba to return to South Africa and so, after some 30 years, she returned home in of June of that year
During here celebrated singing carreer she recorded and toured with numerous popular artists, including Nina Simone, Paul Simon, Dizzy Gillespie and the legendary Hugh Masekala.
She died in November 2008 following a heart attack
