Biography
Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), known as Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights advocate. She was linked to genres such as Afropop, jazz, and world music, and was a prominent opponent of apartheid and the white-minority regime in South Africa.
Born in Johannesburg to Swazi and Xhosa parents, Makeba had to work from a young age following her father's death. At 17, she experienced a brief and reportedly abusive first marriage, gave birth to her only child in 1950, and survived breast cancer. Recognized for her vocal abilities during childhood, she began her professional singing career in the 1950s, performing with the Cuban Brothers, the Manhattan Brothers, and the all-female group the Skylarks, blending jazz, traditional African tunes, and Western popular music. In 1959, her small role in the anti-apartheid film Come Back, Africa gained her international attention, leading to performances in Venice, London, and New York City. While in London, she met American singer Harry Belafonte, who became her mentor and collaborator. Relocating to New York City, she quickly gained popularity and recorded her first solo album in 1960. That same year, the South African government barred her from returning home for her mother's funeral.
Makeba's career thrived in the United States with multiple album releases, including her hit "Pata Pata" (1967). Alongside Belafonte, she earned a Grammy Award for their 1965 album An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba. She testified against South Africa's government at the United Nations and engaged with the civil rights movement. In 1968, she married Stokely Carmichael, a Black Panther Party leader, which led to diminished support from white Americans. When traveling abroad, the US government revoked her visa, forcing her and Carmichael to settle in Guinea. She continued performing primarily across African nations, participating in various independence celebrations. Her music became more openly critical of apartheid, exemplified by the 1977 song "Soweto Blues," written by her ex-husband Hugh Masekela, about the Soweto uprising. Following apartheid's end in 1990, Makeba returned to South Africa, continuing to record and perform, including a 1991 album with Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie and appearing in the 1992 film Sarafina!. In 1999, she was appointed an FAO Goodwill Ambassador and advocated for humanitarian causes. She died of a heart attack during a concert in Italy in 2008.
Makeba was one of the first African artists to gain global recognition. She introduced African music to Western audiences and helped popularize world music and Afropop. She also brought attention to songs critical of apartheid, becoming a symbol of resistance, especially after being banned from returning to South Africa. Upon her passing, former South African President Nelson Mandela remarked that "her music inspired a powerful sense of hope in all of us.
