Deborah Fraser
Encyclopedia
Deborah Fraser is a South African
gospel artist with a solo career spanning close to decade and more than a million units sold, cementing her status as a singer of incomparable power in the tradition of richly melodious, faith-based pleasant music. Born in 1966 in KwaMashu
in the KwaZulu Natal province, she started singing at school. Initially staying in Durban, she moved to Johannesburg
, in the Gauteng province in 1985 to seek for greener pastures in the recording industry. She started out working with composer, singer and gospel producer Mthunzi Namba who also hails from her province. She rose to prominence after announcing that she is the voice being used in many songs that were only credited to the late Brenda Fassie
.
She later featured in the Maria Le Maria project alongside Fassie, Lundi Tyamara and Peter Mokoena in a Chicco Twala-produced album before launching her successful solo career. Deborah was a backing singer for musicians like Yvonne Chaka Chaka
, Fassie, Lucky Dube and many others. Together with contemporaries like Stella Khumalo, Mandisa Dlanga and Faith Kekana, they were the busiest session musicians. The quartet worked with every musician who needed to quality voices in their productions and ended up on almost every album produced in the country for the past seventeen years. In the early nineties, she toured around the world with former exiles Miriam Makeba
, Hugh Masekela
, Letta Mbulu
and Caiphus Semenya. She lost her son, Mbuso, after birth in 1996.
Deborah Fraser’s widely publicised marriage to a Nigerian pastor, Sockey Okeke, hit turbulent waters hardly a year after the couple got married in a traditional wedding. When contacted by Sowetan newspaper, Fraser said she was not prepared to discuss her private life in the newspapers. She is a winner of the first SABC Crown Gospel Music award in the Best Female Artist category, amongst other awards.
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...
gospel artist with a solo career spanning close to decade and more than a million units sold, cementing her status as a singer of incomparable power in the tradition of richly melodious, faith-based pleasant music. Born in 1966 in KwaMashu
KwaMashu
KwaMashu is a township twenty miles north of Durban, South Africa with very high levels of poverty and crime.-History:The township was formed by the apartheid state to house the mass resettlement of Africans that were living in Cato Manor during 1958-65. It is the largest of 3 townships in the area...
in the KwaZulu Natal province, she started singing at school. Initially staying in Durban, she moved to 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...
, in the Gauteng province in 1985 to seek for greener pastures in the recording industry. She started out working with composer, singer and gospel producer Mthunzi Namba who also hails from her province. She rose to prominence after announcing that she is the voice being used in many songs that were only credited to the late Brenda Fassie
Brenda Fassie
Brenda Fassie , was a South African 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,...
.
She later featured in the Maria Le Maria project alongside Fassie, Lundi Tyamara and Peter Mokoena in a Chicco Twala-produced album before launching her successful solo career. Deborah was a backing singer for musicians like Yvonne Chaka Chaka
Yvonne Chaka Chaka
Yvonne Chaka Chaka is a South African singer.Dubbed the "Princess of Africa", Chaka Chaka has been at the forefront of South African popular music for 20 years...
, Fassie, Lucky Dube and many others. Together with contemporaries like Stella Khumalo, Mandisa Dlanga and Faith Kekana, they were the busiest session musicians. The quartet worked with every musician who needed to quality voices in their productions and ended up on almost every album produced in the country for the past seventeen years. In the early nineties, she toured around the world with former exiles Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
, Hugh Masekela
Hugh Masekela
Hugh Ramopolo Masekela is a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer.-Early life:Masekela was born in Kwa-Guqa Township, Witbank, South Africa. He began singing and playing piano as a child...
, Letta Mbulu
Letta Mbulu
Letta Mbulu is a South African jazz singer born and raised in Soweto. She has been active since the 1960s, but left for the United States in 1965 due to Apartheid. In the U.S. she worked with Cannonball Adderley, David Axelrod and Harry Belafonte...
and Caiphus Semenya. She lost her son, Mbuso, after birth in 1996.
Deborah Fraser’s widely publicised marriage to a Nigerian pastor, Sockey Okeke, hit turbulent waters hardly a year after the couple got married in a traditional wedding. When contacted by Sowetan newspaper, Fraser said she was not prepared to discuss her private life in the newspapers. She is a winner of the first SABC Crown Gospel Music award in the Best Female Artist category, amongst other awards.