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Miriam Makeba

File:Miriam_makeba_01.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Miriam Makeba

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Also known as Mama Africa, Zenzile Miriam Makeba, Miriam Zenzi Makeba, Zensile Makeba Qgwashu Nguvama Yiketheli Nxgowa Bantana Balomzi Xa Ufnu Ubajabulisa Ubaphekeli Mbiza Yotshwala Sithi Xa Saku Qgiba Ukutja Sithathe Izitsha Sizi Khabe Singama Lawu Singama Qgwashu Singama Nqamla Nqgithi, Mirjam Makeba, Miriam Zenat Makeba

South African singer and civil rights activist (1932–2008)

OverviewAI-generated

Miriam Makeba was a South African female vocalist and songwriter whose career spanned from 1953 to 2008. Born on March 4, 1932, she was also known by the pseudonym "Mama Africa." Her musical work is categorized under genres including marabi, world, and 2008 universal fire victim. She is associated with tags such as African, South Africa, female vocalists, and World Music.

Makeba’s recorded works include *Makeba*, *World of African Song*, *Welela*, *Myriam Makeba*, and *Enregistrement public au theatre des Champs-Elysees (30 Septembre 1977)*. She passed away on November 9, 2008, or November 10, 2008. Her legacy includes quotes such as "African music, though very old, is always being rediscovered in the West" and "I will probably die singing."

Synthesized by Vinony from 24 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Last.fm, Crossref, Wikiquote, MusicBrainz, Open Library, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Works
9

Top works

  • Makeba
  • World of African Song
  • Welela
  • Myriam Makeba
  • Enregistrement public au theatre des Champs-Elysees (30 Septembre 1977)

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Gender
Female
Origin
South Africa
Active from
1932-03-04
Active to
2008-11-10
2008 universal fire victimmarabisongwriterworld

Discography

Official siteDiscogsStream

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
290,920
Total plays
2,571,936

Tags

africansouth africafemale vocalistsworldWorld Music

Similar artists

Hugh MasekelaLadysmith Black MambazoBrenda FassieFela KutiAngélique Kidjo

Zenzile Miriam Makeba (1932-2008), also known as Mama Africa, was beyond dispute one of South Africa's true legends. Born March 4, 1932 in Johannesburg, Miriam Makeba was barely 21 years old when she, as a member of the Manhattan Brothers, reached for the stars in her home country. It didn't take long before Miriam Makeba's career was brought to another level. In 1966 she received a Grammy Award for the album An Evening with Harry Belafonte & Miriam Makeba, making her the first African artist to win a Grammy. <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Miriam+Makeba">Read more on Last.fm</a>

via Last.fm · Miriam Makeba

Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

  1. A global reference for human genetic variation

    · 2015 · cited 17,787x

  2. Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

    · 2020 · cited 15,971x

  3. Prodigal: prokaryotic gene recognition and translation initiation site identification

    · 2010 · cited 11,856x

  4. Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean

    · 2015 · cited 10,998x

  5. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

    · 2018 · cited 10,997x

via Crossref · CC0

Quotes

  • “African music, though very old, is always being rediscovered in the West.”
  • “I will probably die singing.”
  • “When I was young, I never bought records because my brother Joseph played saxophone and had a record player. I loved listening to his records: The Dorsey Brothers, Duke Ellington, all the big American jazz bands, and vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald, Ernestine Anderson, and Kitty White, a singer from the US who was a friend of Nina Simone. Nobody in America seems to know about her, but she was quite popular in South Africa.”
  • “In those years, when I came to the States, people were always asking me why I didn’t sing anymore. I’d tell them, ‘I sing all around the world—Asia, Africa, Europe—but if you don’t sing in the US, then you haven’t really made it.’ That’s why I’ll always be grateful to Paul Simon. He allowed me to bring my music back to my friends in this country.”
  • “I didn’t have much, but I was always happy to share what I did have. It seemed like every African that came to New York City would show up at my apartment door at dinnertime, and I couldn’t turn them away. I wasn’t much older than any of them, but they started calling me ‘Mama Africa’ and the name stuck.”
  • “In New York I heard A Piece of Ground, written by a white South African, Jeremy Taylor. I modified it a little and sang it myself. That song is very special to me because it deals with the land question in southern Africa. We were dispossessed of our land.”

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Miriam
Gender
female
Citizenship
South Africa
Place of birth
Johannesburg
Place of death
Castel Volturno
Spouse
Hugh Masekela
Child
Bongi Makeba
Occupation
composer
Languages spoken
Xhosa
Native language
Xhosa
Award
Commander of the Legion of Honour
Instrument
voice
Record label
Philips Records
Official website
www.miriammakeba.co.za
Image
Miriam Makeba (1968).png
Residence
South Africa
Show 14 more facts
medical condition
rheumatoid arthritis
cause of death
myocardial infarction
Commons category
Miriam Makeba
date of birth
1932-03-04
date of death
2008-11-10
birth name
Zenzile Miriam Makeba
pseudonym
Mama Africa
manner of death
natural causes
start of work period
1953-00-00
end of work period
2008-00-00
nominated for
Grammy Award for Best New Artist
social media followers
36000
copyright representative
SACEM
relative
Peggy Phango
Sources (7)

via Wikidata · CC0

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Zenzile Miriam Makeba (/məˈkeɪbə/ mə-KAY-bə, Xhosa: [máˈkʼêːɓà̤] ; 4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she was an advocate against apartheid and white-minority government in South Africa.

Born in Johannesburg to Swazi and Xhosa parents, Makeba was forced to find employment as a child after the death of her father. She had a brief and allegedly abusive first marriage at the age of 17, gave birth to her only child in 1950, and survived breast cancer. Her vocal talent had been recognized when she was a child, and she began singing professionally in the 1950s, with the Cuban Brothers, the Manhattan Brothers, and an all-woman group, the Skylarks, performing a mixture of jazz, traditional African melodies, and Western popular music. In 1959, Makeba had a brief role in the anti-apartheid film Come Back, Africa, which brought her international attention, and led to her performing in Venice, London, and New York City. In London, she met the American singer Harry Belafonte, who became a mentor and colleague. She moved to New York City, where she became immediately popular, and recorded her first solo album in 1960. Her attempt to return to South Africa that year for her mother's funeral was prevented by the country's government.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Miriam Makeba” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (6)

Available in 88 languages

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via Wikidata sitelinks · CC0