Miriam Makeba

About Miriam Makeba

Grammy Award-winning South African singer, also known as “Mama Afrika”, born March 4th, 1932, in Johannesburg and died November 10th, 2008, in Castel Volturno, Italy. She sang with The Skylarks (3) and The manhattan brothers, before landing a role in the musical King Kong in 1959. She left for London where she met Harry Belafonte, who invited her to America. Makeba is widely regarded as the first lady of South Africa traditional music. At one time married to Hugh Masekela, she became an international superstar in the USA and the UK, before being able to return to South Africa once the political situation had improved.