We dive deep into a blast from the past today with Brenda Nokuzola Fassie in focus. She was a woman of many parts. Brenda Fassie was a South African singer, songwriter, dancer and activist. Fondly called MaBrrr by her fans, she is also known as the “Queen of African Pop”, the “Madonna of The Townships” or simply as The Black Madonna. Born in Langa, Cape Town on 3 November 1964, she was the youngest of nine children. She was named after the American singer Brenda Lee.
Until her death, Brenda Fassie was the recipient of five South African Music Awards: Best Female Artist and Song of the Year in 1999, Best-Selling Release of the Decade and Best Song of the Decade in 2004, and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. She also won three Kora Awards: Most Promising Female Artist of Africa and Best Female Artist of Africa in 1996, and the Jury Special Award in 2001. She was voted 17th in the Top 100 Great South Africans.
We throwback to one of Brenda Fassie’s popular songs,(Mido do do) see below: