Miriam Makeba

Miriam Makeba (born March 4, 1932) is a South African singer. In 1959 she was exiled because of her appearance in the anti-apartheid movie Come Back Africa, and spent 31 years away from home carrying the struggle against the racist system. Her 1969 marriage to black separatist Stokely Carmichael caused further controversy, especially in the United States. Nelson Mandela finally made her come back to South Africa in 1990.

In 1966, Makeba received the Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording together with Harry Belafonte. In 1967 she had a world wide hit with "Pata Pata"; in 1987 she achieved another peak in popularity by appearing in Paul Simon's Graceland tour. Shortly thereafter she published her autobiography Makeba: My Story. In 2002, she shared the Polar Music Prize with Sofia Gubaidulina.

Her version of the Brazilian Classic, "Mas Que Nada" impressed the Brazilian soccer team so much, that they adopted it as their theme tune for the 1966 World Cup and still use it today.

In 2004 Makeba was voted 38th in the Top 100 Great South Africans (see List of South Africans). Makeba started a 14 month worldwide farwell tour in 2005, holding concerts in all countries she had visited during her life. She is admired and mentioned in the South African Grade 9 CTAs (common task assessments) as the Grade 9s had to do a project on her.

See also