Miriam Makeba Dies During Performance

[Steel2Velvet]

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.

[Ombre Vivante]

Oh, man. I remember "Pata Pata" from way back in grade school! Good times

[edna]

I remember that song, we were all 7 or 8 years old kids dancing that in the school yard...

[Otokichi]

Well, "Emabhaceni," which can be found on the "Northern Exposure" soundtrack is the Miriam Makeba song to remember.

(I found this after trawling through Google! links. An ex-Desert Storm veteran mentioned buying the "Sangoma" CD in Saudi Arabia.)

Emabhaceni, which means " The Land of the Amabhaca ", is the story of a young woman who was among the many who fled their homes in the great civil war. In this conflict there is a girl whose father is killed, and she vows to never return to the land of her enemies or marry one of their men, She will find a husband among the peacful Baca people.

Edited November 11, 2008 by Guest