Birth place: Johannesburg, Gauteng
Born: 4 March 1932
Died: 9 November 2008
Girls are the future mothers of our society, and it is important that we focus on their well-being. – Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba was born during tough economic times and her mother was a domestic worker.When her mother was arrested for illegally brewing beer, Makeba went with her mother to prison as she was only 18 days old.
Makeba loved singing at church but her music career began with her singing for her cousin’s band called the Cuban Brothers. Her reputation took off when she began singing for the Manhattan Brothers. In 1964 Makeba married her co-star Hugh Masekela but they divorced in 1966.
In 1957 Makeba left South Africa because of apartheid and toured with different bands. When she returned to South Africa in 1960 for her mother’s funeral, Makeba found out her passport had been cancelled. After testifying about apartheid at the United Nations in 1963, Makeba’s citizenship was taken away from her and she was banned from South Africa. She mainly lived in America for the 30 years of her exile.
Makeba was a tireless anti-apartheid activist and only came back to South Africa in 1990 after being encouraged to do so by Nelson Mandela.
She was internationally famous for her songs like Pata Pata and Malaika. Makeba announced that she was retiring from the music industry in 2005, but agreed to do a farewell concert in Italy in 2008.
Tragically, she died of a heart attack 30 minutes after her performance at the age of 76.
Makeba was married and divorced five times. Her only daughter, Bongi, died tragically in 1985. Makeba is survived by two grandkids, Nelson and Zenzi.
