Brenda Nokuzola Fassie
was born in Langa, Cape Town on 3 November 1964, the youngest of nine
children. She was named after the American singer
Brenda Lee.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
Fassie won 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.
Her son Bongani "Bongz" Fassie
performed "I'm So Sorry", a song dedicated to his mother, on the
soundtrack to the 2005 Academy Award-winning movie Tsotsi. In March 2006 a
life-size bronze sculpture of Fassie by artist Angus Taylor was installed
outside Bassline, a music venue in Johannesburg 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. In
1990, 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...
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