08/02/2023
Brenda Nokuzola Fassie was born in Langa, Cape Town on 3 November 1964,[5] the youngest of nine children. She was named after the American singer Brenda Lee.[5] Her father died when she was only two years old; with the help of her mother, a pianist, she soon started earning money by singing for tourists.
When she was 16 years old in 1981, she received a visit by Hendrick "Koloi" Lebona.[5][6] As a result, she left Cape Town for Soweto, Johannesburg, to seek her fortune as a singer. Fassie first joined the vocal group Joy (filling in for one of the members who was on maternity leave)[7] and later became the lead singer for a township music group called Brenda and the Big Dudes. She had a son, Bongani, in 1985 by a fellow Big Dudes musician. She married Nhlanhla Mbambo in 1989, but the pair divorced in 1991. Around this time she became addicted to co***ne and her career suffered as a result.[8][9]
With very outspoken views and frequent visits to the poorer townships of Johannesburg, as well as songs about life in the townships, Fassie enjoyed tremendous popularity. She also used her music to oppose the apartheid regime in South Africa.[10] In 1989, she released the song "Black President" as a tribute to Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner and later the first Black president of South Africa. Known best for her songs "Weekend Special" and "Too Late for Mama", Fassie was dubbed "The Madonna of the Townships" by Time magazine in 2001.[4]
In 1995, she was discovered in a hotel with the body of her female lover, Poppie Sihlahla, who had died of an apparent overdose.[5] Fassie underwent rehabilitation and got her career back on track.[5] However, she still had drug problems, and returned to drug rehabilitation clinics about 30 times in her life.[5] From 1996 on she released several solo albums, including Now Is the Time, Memeza (1997), and Nomakanjani?. Most of her albums became multi-platinum sellers in South Africa; Memeza was the best-selling album in South Africa in 1998.[5]
SONGs with the big dudes 👇🏾👇🏾
1983: Weekend Special
1984: Cool Spot (EP)
1984: Let's Stick Together
1985: Higher and Higher
1985: Touch Somebody (EP)
1986: No No Señor
Solo albums: 👇🏾👇🏾
1987: Brenda
1987: Ag Shame Lovey
1988: Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu
1989: Too Late for Mama
1990: Black President
1991: I Am Not a Bad Girl
1992: Yo Baby
1993: Mama
1994: Abantu Bayakhuluma
1995: Umuntu Uyashintsha
1996: Now Is the Time
1997: Paparazzi
1998: Memeza
1999: Nomakanjani
2000: Thola Amadlozi
2001: Myekeleni
2002: Mina Nawe: Ngohlala Ngi Nje
2003: Mali
2004: Gimme Some Volume
2004: Greatest Hits: The Queen of African Pop (1964–2004)
Fassie also contributed to Mandoza's album Tornado (2002), Miriam Makeba's album Sangoma (1988), and Harry Belafonte's anti-apartheid album Paradise in Gazankulu (1988). She sang on two of the soundtrack albums for Yizo Yizo (both released in 2004
A true African queen Brenda Fassie ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🙇🏾♂️🙏🏾
May she continue to rest in peace ❤️❤️❤️❤️🙏🏾
We will always love our African queen ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🙇🏾♂️
