Background

Miriam Makeba was born on March 4, 1932, in Johannesburg, during a time of economic depression. Her father, Mpambane Caswell Makeba, dies when she is five years old. Her mother, Nomkomndelo Christina, is forced to send her to live with her grandmother, where she grows up in poverty.

Education

From a young age, Makeba loved to sing at church and performed her first solo during the 1947 Royal Visit. Miriam began her working life helping her mother clean houses. In the 1950s, she lived in Sophiatown when it was a vibrant place and one of the few areas where all races could mix. It was the scene of kwela music, marabi, and African jazz and big band music became popular.

Career

Miriam started her professional musical career making American song covers with the South African band The Cuban Brothers, but she got bored of it and at the age of 21, she found her calling in Jazz music. She partnered up with group The Manhattan Brothers and the all-women group named The Skylarks, which combined traditional African vocals with westernized jazz sounds. It clicked with music lovers on a deeper level and these two bands started getting mentioned as the trendsetters in local and to some extent, in western media.

Her first solo success arrived in the year 1956, under Gallotone Records, when Miriam recorded her very first solo album titled Lovely Eyes. The record got released in the United States and became the first-ever South African album to make it to the Billboard 200 chart. During this time, the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa was starting to boil up and Miriam came out in full supported. She secretly appeared in a documentary film Come Back, Africa, the film which later won the top honor at the Venice film festival.

The film's international success opened Miriam's way for international acclaim and she got signed on to perform in the United States and Europe. She landed in London in the late 50's and met Henry Belafonte, whom she regarded as her mentor. She released the song Pata Pata which is still known among her most popular songs and put her in the class of best international musicians. She kept switching between London and New York during that time and got married briefly to an Indian man, but upon divorce, she moved to New York City to concentrate on making music.

In 1960, she wanted to come back to South Africa due to some personal purposes, but she wasn't allowed, and then followed a three years exile. Miriam continued making music and wooing Americans with her musical skills and was being hailed as "the most exciting young musician." Her songs The Click Song and Malaika became popular across the United States for introducing Americans to the African sounds, which was a refreshing change.

Miriam's popularity reached the then American president, John F. Kennedy, who claimed that he was a huge fan of the singer and invited her over to perform at his son's birthday party in 1962. Three years later, she along with her mentor Belafonte, released a duo album titled An Evening with Belafonte and Makeba, which went on to receive the Grammy Award for best folk album of the year in 1966. The duos Train Song and Cannon also received widespread love from around the country.

Her career took another major turn in mid-80s, when she came in touch with Paul Simon, a cult figure in the American music scene. She embarked on a glorious Graceland tour, which turned her life around and the European countries got officially introduced to the brilliant musician that Miriam was. The tour also gave her the opportunity to be vocal about the apartheid movement back in South Africa and raise awareness about the cause.

Upon his release from the prison in the early 1990s, Nelson Mandela invited Miriam back to South Africa. In June 1988, Miriam performed a concert in Wembley Stadium, London, in celebration of Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday. In 1991, Miriam released Eyes on Tomorrow in collaboration with Nina Simone, and embarked on a world tour to promote the album and in the subsequent years, she continued making music and doing concerts, with more fans in the west than in her native land.

On November 9, 2008, Miriam bid her final goodbye to the world. She had been suffering from several illnesses and a heart attack finally turned out to be the cause of her death. She kept making music and spreading awareness about several causes among the African youth till her last breath.

Achievements

• Miriam Makeba was a famous South African musician, actor, and a keen civil rights activist, who was named United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. Also known by her nickname Mama Africa, she is the person who took African traditional music sounds to the world stage and performed in many countries around the globe, achieving magnum success while. She was strongly against white supremacy which was very much apparent in South Africa during the 60s and 70s and spoke in favor of the anti-apartheid movements all through her life until things got a lot better in the 90s.

Religion

There is no information about Makeba's religious beliefs.

Politics

Makeba was a United Nations representative for Guinea, for which she was presented with the Dag Hammarskjöld Peace Prize in 1986.

Witnessing racist policies such as separate black and white audiences, Makeba vowed to sing about the poverty and injustice in South Africa. She attracted international attention by starring in an anti-apartheid film, Come Back, Africa, produced by independent American filmmaker Lionel Rogosin.

A spokesperson for civil rights throughout the world, Makeba continues to stand as the embodiment of the black South African condition. As Robert Farris Thompson put it in the New York Times, "She is a symbol of the emergence of Afro-Atlantic art and a voice for her people. Her life in multiple cultural and political settings - and her rich musical career, drawing on traditional and contemporary sources - have resonance for us all."

Views

Makeba made her humanitarian work through her Zenzile Miriam Makeba Foundation, including the Miriam Makeba Rehabilitation Centre for abused girls. She also supported campaigns against drug abuse and HIV/Aids awareness. Furthermore, she appeared as President Mbeki's Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations.

Personality

Physical Characteristics: Makeba survived breast cancer.

Quotes from others about the person

• Nelson Mandela: "Her music inspired a powerful sense of hope in all of us."

Interests

• Politicians

  Nelson Mandela

• Music & Bands

  Afropop, jazz

Connections

Miriam Makeba got married for the first time in 1949 to James Kubay, a trainee policeman, with whom she gave birth to her only child, Bongi Makeba. Kubay used to beat her up frequently so the marriage did not work and they separated after two years of marriage.

Makeba married her King Kong co-star, Hugh Masekela, in 1964.

In 1968, she married militant African-American civil rights activist and Black Panther leader Stokely Carmichael but harassment from the United States government forced her to move to Guinea. They separated in 1978.

Father:

Mpambane Caswell Makeba

Mother:

Nomkomndelo Christina

ex-spouse:

Hugh Masekela

(1939-2018)

Hugh Masekela was a South African trumpeter who was one of his country's most popular instrumentalists. An outspoken opponent of apartheid, he lived in the United States, Europe, and Africa while bringing his own country's unique rhythms and harmonies to international stages.

ex-spouse:

Stokely Carmichael

(1941-1998)

Stokely Carmichael was a West-Indian-born civil rights activist, leader of Black nationalism in the United States in the 1960s and originator of its rallying slogan, "Black power."

ex-spouse:

James Kubay

(married 1959; divorced 1961)

Daughter:

Bongi Makeba

colleague:

Harry​​ Belafonte

Harry Belafonte is an American singer, songwriter, actor, producer, and activist who was a key figure in the folk music scene of the 1950s, especially known for popularizing the Caribbean folk songs known as calypsos. He was also involved in various social causes, notably the civil rights movement.

References

• Miriam Makeba's Official Website