Zensi Miriam Makeba, popularly known as Miriam Makeba, was a renowned South African singer and civil rights activist born on March 4, 1932, to a Swazi mother and a Xhosa father in Prospect Township, near Johannesburg, South Africa. Makeba grew up in Sophiatown, a segregated black township outside Johannesburg. She began singing in a school choir at an early age and started singing professionally in the 1950s.
In 1954, she became a professional vocalist and performed primarily in Southern Africa with various music groups, including the Cuban Brothers, the Manhattan Brothers, and the all-female group the Skylarks. Her singing and recording talent made her well known in South Africa in the late 1950s. She also debuted in the documentary Come Back, Africa (1959), which attracted the interest of Harry Belafonte, who later became her friend, mentor, and other American performers.
Rise to International Prominence and Exile
Makeba’s vocal talent gained recognition as a child, but she began singing professionally in the 1950s with the Cuban Brothers, the Manhattan Brothers, and an all-woman outfit, the Skylarks. There, she performed a mixture of jazz, traditional African melodies, and Western popular music. In 1959, she got assistance from Belafonte and other American performers, which enabled her to settle in the United States, where she continued her successful singing and recording career.
Makeba sang various popular songs but excelled at Xhosa and Zulu songs, which she introduced to her Western audiences. She was also widely known for her songs that criticised apartheid. She was denied reentry into South Africa and remained in exile for three decades. The South African government banned her records and revoked her passport in 1963.
Makeba got married to a trumpeter and fellow Belafonte protégé Hugh Masekela in 1964. Although the couple divorced two years later, they maintained a close professional relationship. 1965, together with Belafonte, they won a Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording for their album An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba. Unfortunately, Makeba married the American black activist Stokely Carmichael, a leader of the Black Panther Party, in 1968 (divorced 1979), a circumstance which led to the decline of her career in the United States. She also lost support among white Americans and faced hostility from the US government. This contributed to her relocation with Carmichael to Africa to settle in Guinea and then to Belgium, continuing to record and tour in Africa and Europe.
Personal Life and Legacy
Makeba was known for many songs internationally, which included hits like “Pata Pata” and one known as the “Click Song” in English (“Qongqothwane” in Xhosa); both songs featured the distinctive click sounds of her native Xhosa language. In her career, Makeba made 30 original albums, 19 compilation albums, and appearances on the recordings of several other musicians.
Makeba fell ill during a Castel Volturno concert near Caserta, Italy. The concert had been organised to support the writer, Roberto Saviano, in his stand against the Camorra, a criminal organisation active in the Campania region, on November 9, 2008. Makeba suffered a heart attack after singing her hit song “Pata Pata” and was taken to the Pineta Grande clinic, where doctors confirmed her death.
Legacy and Impact
In a remark after her death, Nelson Mandela described her as “South Africa’s first lady of song” and said, “Her music inspired a powerful sense of hope in all of us.” Outside her home country, South Africa, Makeba was credited with bringing African music to a Western audience and other top African artists. Makeba’s legacy continues to inspire musicians and activists around the world. Her music has been featured in numerous films, television shows, and documentaries, and her influence on African music and culture is immeasurable.
Activism
Makeba was among the most prominent Africans in the United States, and as a result, she was often seen as an emblem of the continent of Africa for Americans. Her music artistry earned her the moniker “Mama Africa”, and she was severally described as the “Empress of African Song”, “Queen of South African music”, and Africa’s “first superstar”. A music scholar named J. U. Jacobs once said that Makeba’s music had “both been shaped by and given shape to black South African and American music.” She was also among top celebrities campaigning against the apartheid system in South Africa and was responsible for popularising several anti-apartheid songs, which included “Meadowlands” by Strike Vilakezi and “Ndodemnyama we Verwoerd” (Watch out, Verwoerd) by Vuyisile Mini. Due to her public profile, she became a mouthpiece for Africans living under oppressive governments and especially for black South Africans living under apartheid.
Later Life and Career
Makeba continued to perform, primarily in African countries, including at several independence celebrations. She began to write and perform music more explicitly critical of apartheid, such as the 1977 song “Soweto Blues” by her former husband, Hugh Masekela, about the Soweto uprising. Her autobiography, Makeba: My Story (co-authored with James Hall), was later released in 1988. In 1990, she was encouraged by the South African black activist Nelson Mandela, who had just been released from his extended imprisonment, to return to South Africa, using her French passport, on 10 June 1991, and she performed there for the first time since her exile. She also continued recording and performing and released an album in 1991 with Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie. The album combined jazz, R&B, pop, and traditional African music and was an immediate hit across Africa.
Makeba and Gillespie then toured the world together to promote the album. Later that year, she made a guest appearance on a US sitcom, The Cosby Show. She also appeared in the 1992 film Sarafina, centring on students’ involvement in the 1976 Soweto uprising. Makeba portrayed the title character’s mother, Angelina, a role which The New York Times described as having been performed with “immense dignity”. In 1999, she was named a UN goodwill ambassador, a platform she used in her campaign for humanitarian causes. Makeba was named a Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on October 16, 1999. Her album, Homeland, produced by the New York City-based record label Putumayo World Music, was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best World Music Album category in January 2000.
Makeba worked closely with Graça Machel-Mandela, the then-South African first lady, advocating for children who have HIV/AIDS, child soldiers, and the physically handicapped. Later, she established the Makeba Centre for Girls, a home for orphans, which was described in an obituary as her most personal project. She also participated in the 2002 documentary Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony, which critically examined the struggles of black South Africans against apartheid through the music of the period.
The Miriam Makeba Story, published in 2004, was Makeba’s second autobiography. Later, in 2005, she announced that she would retire and started a farewell tour; despite having osteoarthritis, she continued to perform until her death. During this period, her grandchildren, Nelson Lumumba Lee and Zenzi Lee, and her great-grandchild Lindelani, sometimes joined her performances.
Death
Makeba fell ill during a Castel Volturno concert near Caserta, Italy. The concert had been organised to support the writer Roberto Saviano in his stand against the Camorra, a criminal organisation active in the Campania region, on November 9, 2008. Makeba suffered a heart attack after singing her hit song “Pata Pata” and was taken to the Pineta Grande clinic, where doctors confirmed her death.
Legacy and Impact
In a remark after her death, Nelson Mandela described her as “South Africa’s first lady of song” and said, “Her music inspired a powerful sense of hope in all of us.” Outside her home country, South Africa, Makeba was credited with bringing African music to a Western audience and other top African artists.
Miriam Makeba’s music inspires musicians and activists worldwide, and her legacy has been recognised through numerous awards and honours. Her music has been featured in films, television shows, and documentaries, and her influence on African music and culture is immeasurable.
In 2009, a tribute television show to Makeba, Hommage à Miriam Makeba, was held at the Cirque d’hiver in Paris. In 2014, she was honoured (along with Nelson Mandela, Albertina Sisulu, and Steve Biko) in the Belgian city of Ghent, which named a square after her the “Miriam Makebaplein.”
Makeba’s impact extends far beyond her music. She was an outspoken critic of apartheid and an advocate for human rights, dedicating her life to fighting for the rights of oppressed people around the world. She used her platform as an artist to raise awareness of issues affecting black South Africans, and her music became a powerful tool for resistance against apartheid. Her activism and advocacy work earned her recognition as a UN Goodwill Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization and a platform to speak on humanitarian causes.
After her return to South Africa, Makeba continued to perform and record music, collaborating with artists such as Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie. In 2002, she participated in the documentary Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony, which examined the struggles of black South Africans against apartheid through the period’s music.
Makeba’s autobiography, Makeba: My Story (co-authored with James Hall), was released in 1988. In 2004, she published The Miriam Makeba Story, her second autobiography. In 2005, she announced her retirement and started a farewell tour despite having osteoarthritis. She continued to perform until her death, and her grandchildren and great-grandchild occasionally joined her performances.
Miriam Makeba’s legacy inspires generations of artists, musicians, and activists worldwide. Her music and activism impacted the fight against apartheid, and the struggle for human rights, and her unique sound and style continue to influence African music today. Makeba’s legacy as an artist, activist, and humanitarian will continue to inspire future generations to use their talents and platforms to create a better world.