Miriam Makebe has died

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Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 5:36 am

Most of you won't know her but she was an amazing talent. I love her music.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7719056.stm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-VrfadKbco&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yziA_ZOB0s4

Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 5:50 am

You are right, lotta. I never heard of her. But watching those videos you posted, she sure had a beautiful voice.
What language was she singing in?

Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 5:51 am

Xhosa. She sang in English too but the Xhosa stuff is beautiful.

Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 6:16 am

Absolutely!
She certainly had a passion for family values...'they usually look for a big diamond ring...in Africa, they look for those cows, for Mom and Pop, for bringing them up...'
I'm going to go search YouTube for more of her music.
Thanks for sharing.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 24

I hear ya Lotta. She really was an amazing vocalist...

Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 11:30 am

Demonstrating again my talent for taking threads O/T, here is a song from another excellent South African band.

There's so much talent there, of which only a slight amount ever gets recognised outside the country.

Fly Them Dreads

What brings it home is that the lead singer was murdered by carjackers in Jo'burg last year... Crying or Very sad

Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 1:54 pm

I hadn't heard of her, but have just ordered a CD from Amazon.

I wonder how long it will be before some banker lad finds her bank account containing several million dollars? Sad

Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 2:29 pm

Or how long it will be before they use her name on an email? Sad

Full local news article can be had from

http://www.tonight.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=354&fArticleId=4704708

Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 2:42 pm

Very sad she was a great singer.

Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 5:58 pm

Wright B Hindyou wrote:

What brings it home is that the lead singer was murdered by carjackers in Jo'burg last year... Crying or Very sad

Ah yes....Lucky Dube Very Happy

He was yet another victim of the everyday senseless crime in SA Sad

Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 7:24 pm

Well, this is a sad day indeed. As I recall, When We Were Kings introduced Makeba to a whole new audience. Her passing is a great loss. She was a fine ambassador and a wonderful musician: we thank her for that.

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 6:33 pm

The year was 1973 or so, and I was a struggling graduate student on a budget so tight that every month I had precisely five dollars left over to "splurge" on a single treat (i.e., something other than a tuna fish sandwich and a single bottle of diet soda for lunch, or even to spend on a first-run movie in an actual theater), when Miriam Makeba came to Chicago, Illinois. If I recall correctly, her concert was at the Old Town School of Folk Music, and my precious five dollars for that month allowed me to get in the door and find a seat on the floor. Miriam Makeba had a glorious, glorious, voice; moreover, she was a woman whose principled life I very much admire. Until I logged on to Eater the other day and found lotta's post, I thought I might be the only person who recalled what great talent Miriam Makeba had brought to this world.