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Miriam Makeba

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Zenzile Miriam Makeba (1932 to 2008) was a South African singer, songwriter and activist, known as Mama Africa. She was born in Johannesburg to a Swazi and a Xhosa parent. In the 1950s she began singing professionally with the Cuban Brothers, the Manhattan Brothers and the women's group the Skylarks, with a mixture of jazz, traditional African melodies and Western pop music. Her role in the anti-apartheid film Come Back, Africa brought her international attention in 1959.

Music and breakthrough

In London she met Harry Belafonte, who became her mentor. She moved to New York and recorded her first solo record in 1960. When she wanted to go home that year for her mother's funeral, the South African government prevented it. Her best-known song became Pata Pata from 1967. With Belafonte she won a Grammy for the record An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba from 1965. She spoke against apartheid at the United Nations. After her marriage to Stokely Carmichael in 1968 the American government revoked her visa and she settled in Guinea. Only after the end of apartheid did she return to South Africa in 1990.

Influence

Makeba was one of the first African musicians with worldwide fame. She brought African music to a Western audience and contributed to the rise of world music and Afropop. Her songs against apartheid made her a symbol of resistance. She died in 2008 after a heart attack during a concert in Italy.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Pata Pata and notice how her voice and the rhythm of the accompaniment keep complementing each other, and how cheerful this sounds for a singer who was not allowed to go home for years.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

See also

Categories: ArtistsSouth African jazzVocal jazz