Brenda Fassie

Brenda Nokuzola Fassie (3 November 1964 – 9 May 2004) was a South African singer, songwriter, dancer and activist. Affectionately called MaBrrr by her fans, she is also known as the "Queen of African Pop", the " Madonna of The Townships" or simply as The Black Madonna. Her bold stage antics earned a reputation for "outrageousness";Desa Philadelphia
"Brenda Fassie: Africa: The Madonna Of The Townships"
'' Time'', 15 September 2001. ironically, her Xhosa name, Nokuzola, means "quiet", "calm", or "peace".

Biography

Brenda Nokuzola Fassie was born in Langa, Cape Town on 3 November 1964, the youngest of nine children. She was named after the American singer Brenda Lee. Her father died when she was only two years old; with the help of her mother, a pianist, she soon started earning money by singing for tourists.

When she was 16 years old in 1981, she received a visit by Hendrick "Koloi" Lebona. As a result, she left Cape Town for Soweto, Johannesburg, to seek her fortune as a singer. Fassie first joined the vocal group Joy (filling in for one of the members who was on maternity leave) 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 the pair divorced in 1991. Around this time she became addicted to cocaine and her career suffered as a result.

With very outspoken views and frequent visits to the poorer townships of Johannesburg, as well as songs about life in the townships, Fassie enjoyed tremendous popularity. She also used her music to oppose the apartheid regime in South Africa. In 1989, she released the song "Black President" as a tribute to Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner and later the first Black president of South Africa. Known best for her songs "Weekend Special" and "Too Late for Mama", Fassie was dubbed "The Madonna of the Townships" by '' Time'' magazine in 2001.

In 1995, she was discovered in a hotel with the body of her female 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 on 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 initially 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 Fassie had taken an overdose of cocaine on 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. She died aged 39 on 9 May 2004 in hospital, without regaining 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. Her family, including her long-term partner, were at her side when she died.

Recognition

Fassie won five South African Music Awards: Best Female Artist and Song of the Year in 1999, Best-Selling Release of the Decade and Best Song of the Decade in 2004, and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. She also won three Kora Awards: Most Promising Female Artist of Africa and Best Female Artist of Africa in 1996, and the Jury Special Award in 2001. She was voted 17th in the Top 100 Great South Africans.

Her son Bongani "Bongz" Fassie performed "I'm So Sorry", a song dedicated to his mother, on the soundtrack to the 2005 Academy Award-winning movie ''Tsotsi''. In March 2006 a life-size bronze sculpture of Fassie by artist Angus Taylor was installed outside Bassline, a music venue in Johannesburg.

Discography

Most of Fassie's records were issued by the EMI-owned CCP Records.

With The Big Dudes:
* 1983: ''Weekend Special''
* 1984: ''Cool Spot (EP)''
* 1984: ''Let's Stick Together''
* 1985: ''Higher and Higher''
* 1985: ''Touch Somebody (EP)''
* 1986: ''No No Señor''

Solo albums:

* 1987: ''Brenda''
* 1987: '' Ag Shame Lovey''
* 1988: ''Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu''
* 1989: ''Too Late for Mama''
* 1990: '' Black President''
* 1991: ''I Am Not a Bad Girl''
* 1992: '' Yo Baby''
* 1993: ''Mama''
* 1994: '' Abantu Bayakhuluma''
* 1995: '' Umuntu Uyashintsha''
* 1996: ''Now Is the Time''
* 1997: ''Paparazzi''
* 1998: ''Memeza''
* 1999: '' Nomakanjani''
* 2000: '' Thola Amadlozi''
* 2001: '' Myekeleni''
* 2002: '' Mina Nawe: Ngohlala Ngi Nje''
* 2003: '' Mali''
* 2004: ''Gimme Some Volume''
* 2004: '' Greatest Hits: The Queen of African Pop (1964–2004)''

Fassie also contributed to Mandoza's album ''Tornado'' (2002), Miriam Makeba's album '' Sangoma'' (1988), and Harry Belafonte's anti-apartheid album ''Paradise in Gazankulu'' (1988). She sang on two of the soundtrack albums for ''Yizo Yizo'' (both released in 2004).

See also

* Afro-pop
* Anti-apartheid music

References

* ''Afropop! An Illustrated Guide to Contemporary African Music'' by Sean Barlow & Banning Eyre. (Book Sales August 1995) ,

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fassie, Brenda
1964 births
2004 deaths
20th-century South African women singers
Anti-apartheid activists
Bisexual musicians
Bisexual women
Cocaine-related deaths
Drug-related deaths in South Africa
Kwaito musicians
LGBT musicians from South Africa
LGBT singers from South Africa
People from Langa, Western Cape
People with HIV/AIDS
Xhosa people
20th-century LGBT people
21st-century LGBT people