From Yahoo News:

South African singer Miriam Makeba Dies at 76


Miriam Makeba, the South African singer known to fans worldwide as "Mama Africa" who became an international symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle, died early Monday after performing a concert in southern Italy, a hospital said. She was 76.

An emergency room official at the Pineta Grande Clinic, a private facility in Castel Volturno, said the singer died after being brought there. Italy's ANSA news agency reported that Makeba may suffered a heart attack at the end of the concert for an Italian journalist threatened by the Naples-area Mafia.

Makeba, often called "Mama Africa" and "the Empress of African Song," left South Africa in 1959. She tried to return in 1960 for the funeral of her mother, but her passport was revoked and she was not allowed to enter the country.

She lived in exile for 31 years in the United States, France, Guinea in West Africa and Belgium before having an emotional homecoming in Johannesburg in 1990, when many long-exiled South Africans returned under reforms instituted by then-President F.W. de Klerk.

"I never understood why I couldn't come home," Ms. Makeba said upon her return. "I never committed any crime."

In 1976, Makeba made speech before the United Nations denouncing the policy of apartheid, or racial segregation. After that, South Africa's government-run radio and television refused to broadcast her songs until 1989.

Entertainer Steve Allen helped launch her career in the United States and she often toured with singer Harry Belafonte during the 1960s. In 1987 she performed with singer Paul Simon on his "Graceland" concert tour.

One of her several marriages was to political activist Stokely Carmichael.

A true Nubian princess.

R.I.P.

Wonderful singer and a great woman - RIP Mama Africa

Here she is addressing the UN in 1963 (she contributed to the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid):




There's a good documentary about her, with interviews and live performances on YouTube too (Pt.1 is below). Pt.4 has a great version of one of her best songs, 'Soweto Blues'. Worth a look.....

RIP

Don't forget, she was on the Cosby show.

Rest in peace, lady of peace.

Whaaaat? OMG

:rose: when they reminisce over you my god.....

South African musical legend Miriam Makeba dies

By CELEAN JACOBSON, Associated Press Writer Celean Jacobson, Associated Press Writer – 32 mins ago



JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – She died just how she wanted to — singing on stage for a good cause. And her songs wafted out of taxis and radios, as fellow Africans struggled with their grief at her passing.

Miriam Makeba, the "Mama Africa" whose sultry voice gave South Africans hope when the country was gripped by apartheid, died early Monday of a heart attack after collapsing on stage in Italy. She was 76.

In her dazzling career, Makeba performed with musical legends from around the world — jazz maestros Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie, Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon — and sang for world leaders such as John F. Kennedy and Nelson Mandela.

Her distinctive style, which combined jazz, folk and South African township rhythms, managed to get her banned from South Africa for over 30 years.

"Her haunting melodies gave voice to the pain of exile and dislocation which she felt for 31 long years. At the same time, her music inspired a powerful sense of hope in all of us," Mandela said in a statement.

He said it was "fitting" that her last moments were spent on stage.

Makeba collapsed after singing one of her most famous hits "Pata Pata," her family said. Her grandson, Nelson Lumumba Lee, was with her as well as her longtime friend, Italian promoter Roberto Meglioli.

"Whilst this great lady was alive she would say: 'I will sing until the last day of my life'," the family statement said.

Makeba died at the Pineta Grande clinic in Castel Volturno, near the southern city of Naples, after singing at a concert in solidarity with six immigrants from Ghana who were shot to death in September in the town. Investigators have blamed the attack on organized crime.

The death of "Mama Africa" sent shock waves through South Africa, where callers flooded local radio stations with their recollections of her. In Guinea, where Makeba lived most of her decades in exile, radio and television stations played mournful music and tributes to their adopted icon.

The first African to win a Grammy award, Makeba started singing in Sophiatown, a cosmopolitan neighborhood of Johannesburg that was a cultural hotspot in the 1950s before its black residents were forcibly removed by the apartheid government.

She then teamed up with South African jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela — later her first husband — and her rise to international prominence started in 1959 when she starred in the anti-apartheid documentary "Come Back, Africa."

When she tried to fly home for her mother's funeral the following year, she discovered her passport had been revoked.

In 1963, Makeba appeared before the U.N. Special Committee on Apartheid to call for an international boycott of South Africa. The white-led South African government responded by banning her records, including hits like "Pata Pata," "The Click Song" ("Qongqothwane" in Xhosa), and "Malaika."

Makeba received the Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording in 1966 together with Belafonte for "An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba." The album dealt with the political plight of black South Africans under apartheid.

Thanks to her close relationship with Belafonte, she received star status in the United States and performed for President Kennedy at his birthday party in 1962. But she fell briefly out of favor when she married black power activist Stokely Carmichael — later known as Kwame Ture — and moved to Guinea in the late 1960s.

Besides working with Simone and Gillespie, she also appeared with Paul Simon at his "Graceland" concert in Zimbabwe in 1987.

After three decades abroad, Makeba was invited back to South Africa by Mandela shortly after his release from prison in 1990 as white r@#%$ rule crumbled.

"It was like a revival," she said about going home. "My music having been banned for so long, that people still felt the same way about me was too much for me. I just went home and I cried."

Tributes flooded in Monday from across Africa.

Congo's minister of culture, Esdras Kambale, called Makeba a role model for all Africans.

"We are very saddened," Kambale said. "Fortunately, she left a large body of music that will be immortal."

Percussionist Papa Kouyate — who played in Makeba's band for 20 years and is the widower of her daughter Bongi — remembered Makeba as a giving person.

"I married her daughter Bongi and she adopted me as her own child," he said. "I will mourn Mama Africa for a long time."

Still, Makeba attracted controversy by lending support to dictators such as Togo's Gnassingbe Eyadema and Felix Houphouet-Boigny from Ivory Coast, performing at political campaigns for them even as they violently suppressed democratic movements in West Africa in the early 90s.

The first person to give her refuge was Guinea's former President Ahmed Sekou Toure, who has been accused in the slaughtering of 10 percent of his country's population.

Makeba insisted, however, that her songs were not deliberately political.

"I'm not a political singer," she insisted in an interview with Britain's Guardian newspaper earlier this year. "I don't know what the word means. People think I consciously decided to tell the world what was happening in South Africa. No! I was singing about my life, and in South Africa we always sang about what was happening to us — especially the things that hurt us."

Makeba announced her retirement three years ago, but despite a series of farewell concerts she never stopped performing. When she turned 75 last year, she said she would sing for as long as possible.

Makeba is survived by her grandchildren, Nelson Lumumba Lee and Zenzi Monique Lee, and her great-grandchildren Lindelani, Ayanda and Kwame. A funeral will be held in South Africa, but details have not yet been announced.

Photographer Jurgen Schadeberg, who shot widely acclaimed pictures of Makeba for Drum magazine in the 50s, felt she epitomized the era where politics and culture collided in a heady mix.

"We are losing our great divas," he lamented by telephone from France.

___

Associated Press Writers Frances D'Emilio in Rome; Boubacar Diallo, Maseco Conde in Conakry, Guinea and Eddy Isango in Kinshasa, Congo contributed to this report.

rest in peace and thank you

I was very sad when heard this. Mirima Makeba was an important singer for my life. She gaves me a lot throught her music and her fighter spirit, always for love and peace.

I feel happy, she could lieve the elction of Mr. Barack Obama, America's first Afro-American President! That was from the best Miriam Makeba, Mama Africa could get for her last days. I am almost sure she died happy.

R.I.P.

I will always love you Mama!



R.I.P.

from 1 legend 2 another....



[Edited 11/10/08 12:37pm]
[Edited 11/10/08 12:41pm]


http://www.youtube.com/wa...EE6kN1RBJs
[Edited 11/10/08 12:42pm]

R.I.P.

Awww so sad to hear this

RIP

My friend was named after her....she is so sad to hear this news....I am glad she got to perform one last time tho

Few musical artists are transcendent icons of causes larger than themselves. Mother Makeba is among them.

Rakel said:

Mine too. May she rest in peace.

R.I.P

So sad...

You're a now, R.I.P!

This is very sad news. She was a very talented and caring person. I saw her perform about 12 years ago and was moved by her performance and the passion with which she sang.

She will be missed.

I was waiting to post on this thread until I spoke to my friend Jerry Ragovoy who produced probably her most well known U.S. release...



...Pata Pata


JR told me about a Miriam Makeba tribute show he had attended last month at a location that formerly housed the historic Village Gate night club in NYC.
(Now being called Le Poisson Rouge )


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Featuring:
Randy Weston
Blue Nefertiti (Celia of Les Nubians)
Somi
Gino Sitson
Wunmi
Bakithi & Robbi Khumalo
Francis Mbappe
Jacques Schwarz Bart
Tony Cedras
Jojo Kuo
Loide Jorge
Bill Salter
Leopoldo Fleming


Special Guests:
Remarks by Harry Belafonte & Art D'Lugoff
Plus South African DJ Eddie Ed

http://lepoissonrouge.int...ntid=29902


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Mama Afrika Tribute @ LPR 11/16/08

Ok, so I hadn’t heard of Miriam Makeba until now. That seems to happen a lot. I was either busy studying for 9 years and didn’t get out as much or I stay away from large venues or I just got into jazz in more recent years or something I haven’t thought of. Regardless, I knew this tribute show was the place to be and it would be a good way to find out about Miriam and her greatness. I know she’s great based on the lamentations of her recent passing going around the internet. I also realized this is a good opportunity to see some great people play I may never get to see otherwise.

The ticket/donation was only $20 and the entire proceeds will be donated to the Sauti Yetu: Center for African Women in Miriam’s honor. I think they said it’s for African women in NYC, but I’m not 100% sure.

I got there at just about 8 and it was pretty full. They had the jazz setup, with communal tables and chairs, and this time there were many people standing around the perimeter. I knew I wasn’t going to any African thing and sitting, so I stayed back and didn’t even try to see if there was 1 seat left.

A DJ was spinning while the room continued to fill up. After a while, they started playing music that I assume was Miriam’s, giving me an idea of what she was about. The thing that kept coming up for me was Nina Simone, in her later period. I saw Doug Wamble with Steven Bernstein at Jazz Gallery a while back and they did a Nina Simone song. The way Steven looked when they mentioned it inspired me to run over to J&R the next day and get myself a 3 cd greatest hits type set to explore her music a bit. I preferred the very soulful stuff in her later period the most. That’s what Miriam reminded me of.

It started at around 8:37 with a clip of Miriam on film singing. Then it went on, but the DVD just stopped. It was unclear if they meant to show us more and there was a technical difficulty, or if it was intended to stop there. It was more likely the former as it took a little bit for the next part to start.

There was a lot of very soulful singing, and some great jazz/world/blues type music. It was awesome. I was loving it.

People kept talking about the album and tour “Graceland”. I find out she was really the 1st African woman singer that made it. She touched all of Africa, not just South Africa where she’s from. She came to the US and started playing The Village Vanguard. She also played a lot at The Village Gate. I found that out when they had Art, the old owner of The Village Gate there to speak. I found out from Harry Belefonte how he saw her sing and when he met her he told her she’s awesome, but what we really need is for her to sing African-inspired music, not American jazz. He said he would help her, and he did.

Then, after that, as if it isn’t enough, out comes Paul Simon to do 3 songs and tell us a little about the Graceland tour with Miriam. I was shocked and never thought I’d ever see him, especially in such a small space. That was pretty cool.

Later, Randy Weston came out and blew me away. I don’t think he was playing with his usual trio, but I do think it was one his songs, or something I know anyway. It was phenomenal. I was very into it.

Then, Steve Turre came out and did a shell solo that was great.

I think there was one more jazz number with a bunch of people at about 11:15 or so. I left during that since it was the last tune and I was pretty happy.

I’ve been listening to a few things on youtube of her. I think I’ll have to pick up some recordings for my collection.

It was beautiful to see all the artists she inspired and the tribute was lovely and very tastefully done.

http://terrismusicblog.bl...11608.html
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tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

Beautiful. Thanks for the post.