Brenda Fassie
Encyclopedia
Brenda Fassie was a South Africa
n pop
singer. She was known for her "outrageousness" and widely considered a voice for disenfranchised blacks during apartheid. She was affectionately known as the Queen of African Pop and her nickname amongst fans was Mabrr.
as the youngest of nine children. She was named after Brenda Lee
, an American
country singer. Her father died when she was 2, and with the help of her mother, a pianist, she started earning money by singing for tourists.
In 1981, at the age of 16, she left Cape Town for Soweto
, Johannesburg
to seek her fortune as a singer. Brenda first joined the group Joy and later became the lead singer for the township pop group Brenda And The Big Dudes. She had a son, Bongani, in 1985 by a fellow Big Dudes musician. Brenda married ex-convict
Nhlanhla Mbambo in 1989 but divorce
d in 1991. Around this time she became addicted to cocaine
and her career suffered.
With very outspoken views and frequent visits to the poorer townships
of Johannesburg
, as well as songs about life in the townships, she enjoyed tremendous popularity. Known best for her songs "Weekend Special" and "Too Late for Mama", she was dubbed "The Madonna of the Townships" by Time
in 2001.
In 1995 she was discovered in a hotel with the body of her lesbian lover, Poppie Sihlahla, who had died of an apparent overdose. Fassie underwent rehabilitation and got her career back on track. However, she still had drug problems and returned to drug rehabilitation clinics about 30 times in her life.
From 1996 she released several solo albums such as Now Is The Time, Memeza
(1997, the best-selling album in South Africa in 1998) and Nomakanjani?. Most of her albums became multi-platinum sellers in South Africa.
Her family, including long term partner, were at her side when she succumbed to a cardiac arrest in 2004.
hospital in Johannesburg. The press were told that she had suffered cardiac arrest
but later reported that she had slipped into a coma
brought on by an asthma
attack. The post-mortem report revealed that she had taken an overdose of cocaine in the night of her collapse, and this was the cause of her coma. She stopped breathing and suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen. Fassie was visited in the hospital by Nelson Mandela
, Winnie Mandela, and Thabo Mbeki
, and her condition was front-page news in South African papers. Brenda died at age 39 on 9 May 2004 in hospital without returning to consciousness after her life support machines were turned off. According to the South African Sunday Times and the managers of her music company, the post-mortem report also showed that she was HIV
-positive. Her manager, Peter Snyman, denied this aspect of the report.
She was voted 17th in the Top 100 Great South Africans
.
Her son Bongani 'Bongz' Fassie performed on the soundtrack to the 2005 Academy Award-winning movie Tsotsi
. He dedicated his song "I'm So Sorry" to his mother.
-owned CCP Records, which released an estimated 15 albums by the artist.
She also made contributions to Mandoza
's album Tornado (2002), Miriam Makeba
's album Sangoma (1988), and Harry Belafonte
's 1988 anti-apartheid album Paradise in Gazankulu, and sang Yizo, Yizo to the soundtrack for Yizo, Yizo (2004).
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
singer. She was known for her "outrageousness" and widely considered a voice for disenfranchised blacks during apartheid. She was affectionately known as the Queen of African Pop and her nickname amongst fans was Mabrr.
Biography
Brenda was born in Langa, Cape TownLanga, Cape Town
Langa is a suburb found in Cape Town, South Africa. It was established in 1927 interms of the 1923 Urban Areas Act. Similar to Nyanga, Langa is one of the many areas in South Africa that were designated for Black Africans before the apartheid era. It is the oldest of such suburbs in Cape Town and...
as the youngest of nine children. She was named after Brenda Lee
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
, an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
country singer. Her father died when she was 2, and with the help of her mother, a pianist, she started earning money by singing for tourists.
In 1981, at the age of 16, she left Cape Town for Soweto
Soweto
Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
, Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
to seek her fortune as a singer. Brenda first joined the group Joy and later became the lead singer for the township pop group Brenda And The Big Dudes. She had a son, Bongani, in 1985 by a fellow Big Dudes musician. Brenda married ex-convict
Convict
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison", sometimes referred to in slang as simply a "con". Convicts are often called prisoners or inmates. Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences often are not termed...
Nhlanhla Mbambo in 1989 but divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d in 1991. Around this time she became addicted to cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
and her career suffered.
With very outspoken views and frequent visits to the poorer townships
Township (South Africa)
In South Africa, the term township and location usually refers to the urban living areas that, from the late 19th century until the end of Apartheid, were reserved for non-whites . Townships were usually built on the periphery of towns and cities...
of Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, as well as songs about life in the townships, she enjoyed tremendous popularity. Known best for her songs "Weekend Special" and "Too Late for Mama", she was dubbed "The Madonna of the Townships" by Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
in 2001.
In 1995 she was discovered in a hotel with the body of her lesbian lover, Poppie Sihlahla, who had died of an apparent overdose. Fassie underwent rehabilitation and got her career back on track. However, she still had drug problems and returned to drug rehabilitation clinics about 30 times in her life.
From 1996 she released several solo albums such as Now Is The Time, Memeza
Memeza
Memeza is an album recorded by Brenda Fassie and Sello "Chicco" Twala in 1997. It was the best selling album in South Africa in 1998.-Track listing:# "Qula"# "Sum' Bulala"# "Vuli Ndlela"# "Msindo"# "Memeza"# "Vuli Ndlela "# "Qula "...
(1997, the best-selling album in South Africa in 1998) and Nomakanjani?. Most of her albums became multi-platinum sellers in South Africa.
Her family, including long term partner, were at her side when she succumbed to a cardiac arrest in 2004.
Cardiac arrest and Death
On the morning of 26 April 2004, Brenda collapsed at her home in Buccleuch and was admitted into the SunninghillSunninghill, Gauteng
Sunninghill is a commercial and residential suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region 2. The N1 freeway, which at this area is eight lanes across, forms its southern boundary with access at Rivonia offramp. A new road, the K60, has been built through the centre of Sunninghill to...
hospital in Johannesburg. The press were told that she had suffered cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
but later reported that she had slipped into a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
brought on by an asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
attack. The post-mortem report revealed that she had taken an overdose of cocaine in the night of her collapse, and this was the cause of her coma. She stopped breathing and suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen. Fassie was visited in the hospital by Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
, Winnie Mandela, and Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served two terms as the second post-apartheid President of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008. He is also the brother of Moeletsi Mbeki...
, and her condition was front-page news in South African papers. Brenda died at age 39 on 9 May 2004 in hospital without returning to consciousness after her life support machines were turned off. According to the South African Sunday Times and the managers of her music company, the post-mortem report also showed that she was HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
-positive. Her manager, Peter Snyman, denied this aspect of the report.
She was voted 17th in the Top 100 Great South Africans
SABC3's Great South Africans
Great South Africans was a South African television series that aired on SABC3 and hosted by Noeleen Maholwana Sangqu and Denis Beckett. In September 2004, thousands of South Africans took part in an informal nationwide poll to determine the "100 Greatest South Africans" of all time...
.
Her son Bongani 'Bongz' Fassie performed on the soundtrack to the 2005 Academy Award-winning movie Tsotsi
Tsotsi
Tsotsi is a 2005 film written and directed by Gavin Hood. The film is an adaptation of the novel Tsotsi, by Athol Fugard. The soundtrack features Kwaito music performed by popular South African artist Zola as well as a score by Mark Kilian and Paul Hepker featuring the voice of South African...
. He dedicated his song "I'm So Sorry" to his mother.
Selected discography
Most of Brenda Fassie's records were issued by the EMIEMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
-owned CCP Records, which released an estimated 15 albums by the artist.
- 1989: Brenda
- 1990: Black President
- 1994: Brenda Fassie
- 1995: Mama
- 1996: Now Is Time
- 1997: MemezaMemezaMemeza is an album recorded by Brenda Fassie and Sello "Chicco" Twala in 1997. It was the best selling album in South Africa in 1998.-Track listing:# "Qula"# "Sum' Bulala"# "Vuli Ndlela"# "Msindo"# "Memeza"# "Vuli Ndlela "# "Qula "...
- 1997: Paparazzi
- 2000: Thola Amadlozi
- 2001: Brenda The Greatest Hits
- 2003: Mali
- 2003: The Remix Collection
- 2004: Gimme Some Volume
She also made contributions to Mandoza
Mandoza
Mduduzi Tshabalala , well known as Mandoza, is a South African kwaito musician.- Early life :Mandoza was born in the Zola South section of Soweto, where he shared a house with his mother, his grandparents and two sisters. He never knew his father, his mother claiming that he was murdered the same...
's album Tornado (2002), Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
's album Sangoma (1988), and Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
's 1988 anti-apartheid album Paradise in Gazankulu, and sang Yizo, Yizo to the soundtrack for Yizo, Yizo (2004).