Dorothy Masuka (3 September 1935, in

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council cl ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

(now

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

) – 23 February 2019, in

Johannesburg, South Africa Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

Veteran Zimbabwe Jazz Maestro Dorothy Masuka Dies
''VOA Zimbabwe'' website. Retrieved on 23 February 2019.) was a Zimbabwe-born South African jazz singer.

Music career

Masuka's music was popular in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

throughout the 1950s, but when her songs became more serious, the government began questioning her. Her song "Dr. Malan," mentioning difficult laws, was banned and in 1961 she sang a song for

Patrice Lumumba Patrice Émery Lumumba (; 2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as the Republic of the Congo) from June u ...

, which led to her exile. This exile lasted 31 years in total during which she lived in Zambia and worked as a flight attendant. She returned to Zimbabwe in 1980 after independence. In August 2011, Dorothy Masuka and Mfundi Vundla, creator of the popular South African soap opera '' Generations'', confirmed plans to make a film of Masuka's life. The film would concentrate on the years 1952 to 1957. On 27 April 2017 she featured in the concert "The Jazz Epistles featuring

Abdullah Ibrahim Abdullah Ibrahim (born Adolph Johannes Brand on 9 October 1934 and formerly known as Dollar Brand) is a South African pianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cap ...

& Ekaya," at The Town Hall,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, opening the show and delivering "one passionate performance after another, warming up and winning over the crowd".Bilawsky, Dan
"The Jazz Epistles Featuring Abdullah Ibrahim & Ekaya At The Town Hall"
''All About Jazz'', 1 May 2017. Dorothy Masuka died in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

on 23 February 2019, aged 83.

References

External links

"Dorothy Masuka"
Afropop.
"Dorothy Masuka: The Definitive Collection Review"
BBC Music.
Dorothy Masuka
auf culturebase.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Masuka, Dorothy 1935 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Zimbabwean women singers People from Bulawayo Zimbabwean expatriates in Zambia 21st-century Zimbabwean women singers