RIP, Mama Africa
Nov. 10th, 2008 11:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ciroccojMiriam Makeba dies at age 76
South Africa mourns Makeba, musical 'mother' of the nation
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Miriam Makeba, the musical symbol of black South Africans' struggle against apartheid, has died at the age of 76 after collapsing at a concert in Italy.
Nelson Mandela led tributes Monday to the singer who had international hits with songs such as "Pata Pata" and "The Click Song" while she was banned from entering her homeland.
"She was South Africa's first lady of song and so richly deserved the title of 'Mama Africa' . She was a mother to our struggle and to the young nation of ours," Mandela said.
Ever the activist, Makeba collapsed after singing in support of an Italian author facing Mafia death threats. She was treated while the audience shouted for an encore but died in hospital from a heart attack, officials said.
Makeba "died performing what she did best -- an ability to communicate a positive message through the art of singing," said South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.
He called her "one of the greatest songstresses of our time."
Born in Johannesburg on March 4, 1932, Makeba became one of Africa's best known singers and while Mandela was in prison took up the battle against apartheid through her music.
South Africa revoked her citizenship in 1960 and refused to let her return for her mother's funeral. Makeba spent more than three decades in exile, living in the United States, Guinea and Europe.
Her music was outlawed in her homeland after she appeared in an anti-apartheid film. But she was an international success, winning a Grammy award for Best Folk Recording with US singer Harry Belafonte in 1965 for the album "An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba".
"I kept my culture. I kept the music of my roots," she said in her biography. "Through my music I became this voice and image of Africa, and the people, without even realising."
But she also met controversy abroad. The third of her five marriages -- to civil rights activist and Black Panthers leader Stokely Carmichael in 1968 -- provoked anger in the United States and some of her concerts and contracts were cancelled.
She was also briefly married to trumpeter Hugh Masekela, another famous South African artist who spent long years in exile under apartheid.
Makeba was the daughter of a Swazi mother and Xhosa father.
She started singing professionally in the early 1950s with a group called The Manhattan Brothers, with whom she toured the United States in 1959.
Her career at home took off in the same year when she appeared in a musical version of the film "King Kong". She also made a brief appearance in an early anti-apartheid film "Come Back, Africa" which earned an invitation to pick up an award at the Venice film festival.
Once there however, it became clear that her life would be in danger if she went home, where harsh apartheid laws had been enacted in 1958. South African authorities revoked her citizenship.
Makeba had her biggest hit in 1967 with "Pata Pata" -- Xhosa for "Touch Touch", describing a township dance -- but unwittingly had signed away all royalties on the song.
She was often short of money and could not afford to buy a coffin when her only daughter, Bondi, died aged 36 in 1985. She buried her alone, barring a handful of journalists from covering the funeral.
According to her biography, she also battled cervical cancer and a string of unhappy relationships. She denied rumours of alcoholism.
While she was still in enforced exile, she performed with Paul Simon in the US singer's 1987 "Graceland" concert in Zimbabwe, neighbouring South Africa.
She finally returned to her homeland in the 1990s after Mandela was released from prison and the apartheid system began to collapse. It took six years to find someone in South Africa to produce a record with her. She entitled it "Homeland".
Sunday's benefit concert was at Castel Volturno, near southern Naples, to support Roberto Saviano, author of the best-selling mafia expose "Gomorrah."
Makeba was the last on stage, performing for the 1,000 crowd for half an hour before collapsing, according to Carlo Hermann, an AFP photographer at the concert in the town which is considered a stronghold of the Camorra mafia.
"There were calls for an encore and at that moment someone asked if there was a doctor in the house. Miriam Makeba had fainted and was lying on the floor."
My mom had one of her albums. I memorized the two Makeba songs below, and her song from Black Orpheus (Manhã de Carnaval), even thought I didn't understand most of what the hell I was singing, as the songs were not in English.
Suliram, a lullaby.
The Click Song, a wedding song.
Some videos:
Miriam Makeba sings Soweto Blues
Miriam Makeba joins Paul Simon and others singing the African anthem.
South Africa mourns Makeba, musical 'mother' of the nation
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Miriam Makeba, the musical symbol of black South Africans' struggle against apartheid, has died at the age of 76 after collapsing at a concert in Italy.
Nelson Mandela led tributes Monday to the singer who had international hits with songs such as "Pata Pata" and "The Click Song" while she was banned from entering her homeland.
"She was South Africa's first lady of song and so richly deserved the title of 'Mama Africa' . She was a mother to our struggle and to the young nation of ours," Mandela said.
Ever the activist, Makeba collapsed after singing in support of an Italian author facing Mafia death threats. She was treated while the audience shouted for an encore but died in hospital from a heart attack, officials said.
Makeba "died performing what she did best -- an ability to communicate a positive message through the art of singing," said South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.
He called her "one of the greatest songstresses of our time."
Born in Johannesburg on March 4, 1932, Makeba became one of Africa's best known singers and while Mandela was in prison took up the battle against apartheid through her music.
South Africa revoked her citizenship in 1960 and refused to let her return for her mother's funeral. Makeba spent more than three decades in exile, living in the United States, Guinea and Europe.
Her music was outlawed in her homeland after she appeared in an anti-apartheid film. But she was an international success, winning a Grammy award for Best Folk Recording with US singer Harry Belafonte in 1965 for the album "An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba".
"I kept my culture. I kept the music of my roots," she said in her biography. "Through my music I became this voice and image of Africa, and the people, without even realising."
But she also met controversy abroad. The third of her five marriages -- to civil rights activist and Black Panthers leader Stokely Carmichael in 1968 -- provoked anger in the United States and some of her concerts and contracts were cancelled.
She was also briefly married to trumpeter Hugh Masekela, another famous South African artist who spent long years in exile under apartheid.
Makeba was the daughter of a Swazi mother and Xhosa father.
She started singing professionally in the early 1950s with a group called The Manhattan Brothers, with whom she toured the United States in 1959.
Her career at home took off in the same year when she appeared in a musical version of the film "King Kong". She also made a brief appearance in an early anti-apartheid film "Come Back, Africa" which earned an invitation to pick up an award at the Venice film festival.
Once there however, it became clear that her life would be in danger if she went home, where harsh apartheid laws had been enacted in 1958. South African authorities revoked her citizenship.
Makeba had her biggest hit in 1967 with "Pata Pata" -- Xhosa for "Touch Touch", describing a township dance -- but unwittingly had signed away all royalties on the song.
She was often short of money and could not afford to buy a coffin when her only daughter, Bondi, died aged 36 in 1985. She buried her alone, barring a handful of journalists from covering the funeral.
According to her biography, she also battled cervical cancer and a string of unhappy relationships. She denied rumours of alcoholism.
While she was still in enforced exile, she performed with Paul Simon in the US singer's 1987 "Graceland" concert in Zimbabwe, neighbouring South Africa.
She finally returned to her homeland in the 1990s after Mandela was released from prison and the apartheid system began to collapse. It took six years to find someone in South Africa to produce a record with her. She entitled it "Homeland".
Sunday's benefit concert was at Castel Volturno, near southern Naples, to support Roberto Saviano, author of the best-selling mafia expose "Gomorrah."
Makeba was the last on stage, performing for the 1,000 crowd for half an hour before collapsing, according to Carlo Hermann, an AFP photographer at the concert in the town which is considered a stronghold of the Camorra mafia.
"There were calls for an encore and at that moment someone asked if there was a doctor in the house. Miriam Makeba had fainted and was lying on the floor."
My mom had one of her albums. I memorized the two Makeba songs below, and her song from Black Orpheus (Manhã de Carnaval), even thought I didn't understand most of what the hell I was singing, as the songs were not in English.
Suliram, a lullaby.
The Click Song, a wedding song.
Some videos:
Miriam Makeba sings Soweto Blues
Miriam Makeba joins Paul Simon and others singing the African anthem.
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Date: 2008-11-10 05:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-12 07:06 pm (UTC)