Biography
Brenda
Fassie, born on 3 November 1964 and died 9 May 2004,was a South Africa anti-apartheid
Afropop singer. Her bold stage antics earned a reputation
for "outrageousness". Affectionately
called Mabrr by her fans, she
was sometimes described as the "Queen of African Pop".
Fassie was born in Langa, Cape Town,
as the youngest of nine children. She was named after the American singer Brenda Lee.
Her father died when she was two, 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.
Fassie first joined the group Joy and later became the lead singer for a township
music group called Brenda and the Big Dudes. She had a son, Bongani,
in 1985 by a fellow Big Dudes musician. She married Nhlanhla Mbambo in 1989 but
divorced in 1991.
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.
From 1996 she released several solo
albums, including Now Is the Time, Memeza (1997), and Nomakanjani?. Most of her
albums became multi-platinum sellers in South Africa; Memeza was the
best-selling album in South Africa in 1998.
Death
On the morning of 26 April 2004,
Fassie collapsed at her home in Buccleuch, Gauteng,
and was admitted into a hospital in Sunninghill.
The press were told that she had suffered cardiac
arrest. 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. She died aged 39 on 9 May 2004 in hospital
without returning to consciousness after her life support machines were turned
off.
Her family, including her long term
partner, were at her side when she died.
Recognition
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.
In March 2006 a life-size bronze
sculpture of Fassie by artist Angus Taylor was installed outside
Bassline, a music venue in Johannesburg
Biography Brenda Fassie , born on 3 November 1964 and died 9 May 2004,was a South Africa anti-apartheid Afropop singer. Her ...
