Brenda dead

JOHANNESBURG – African pop diva Brenda Fassie is dead, aged 39.

Called the ‘Madonna of the townships’, after the American pop icon, Fassie lived a turbulent, controversial and at times self-destructive life. She was sleeping peacefully when she died late yesterday afternoon, her record company said.Her nephew Tshepo was with her at the time.”It is with a heavy heart and a deep sense of regret and sadness that (Fassie’s family) wishes to advise that she passed away peacefully in her sleep early this evening,” Leslie Sedibe of EMI music said.Sedibe said many South Africans, including President Thabo Mbeki and his predecessor Nelson Mandela had shown their support over the past two weeks.Funeral arrangements had not yet been made, and a formal announcement would be made in the course of next week, he said.Former ANC Woman’s League president Winnie Mandela was by the side of Sedibe at the press conference.She refused to comment, except to say “this is an extremely sad day for all of us”.Fassie’s mentor Chicco Twala and other prominent musicians were also at the hospital when the announcement was made.Fassie was admitted to the Sunninghill Hospital after an asthma attack two weeks ago.She had been in a coma since her admission and on Friday doctors advised the family there was nothing more they could do to reverse her condition.”The family has decided to leave the matter in God’s hands,” a statement said at the time.Fassie, also known as “the girl with the golden voice”, “South Africa’s queen of pop” and “undisputed queen of the vocals”, was at the forefront of black South African popular music for 20 years.Her musical future was given a kickstart when producer Koloi Lebona heard her sing in 1979, at the age of 16.Koloi recalled:”I had five or six musicians raving to me about her voice and so I decided to hear it for myself.”I had no trouble finding her mother Sarah’s house in Langa – everyone was talking about Brenda.And when I got there Brenda sang several standards for me while her mother played the piano.”There was something special about her voice.It was different to anything I had heard until then and was very mature for a 16-year-old.I knew it was the voice of the future.”He brought her back to Johannesburg where she joined the band Joy as a stand-in singer.Fassie soon left school and joined Blondie and Papa.In 1983, as part of Brenda and the Big Dudes, Fassie hit the big time with Weekend Special – which became the fastest selling record of the time and entered the Billboard Hot Black singles chart in 1986.Brenda and the Big Dudes subsequently toured the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and Brazil.Following her early success, Fassie headed into a downward spiral, spending, by her own admission, much of the early 1990s in a cocaine haze.Industry insiders and admirers noted her more extreme behaviour threatened to undermine her exceptional musical talent – but she remained one of the biggest sellers the country has ever produced.She married jailbird Nhlanhla Mbambo in 1989 and divorced him in 1991 amid accusations that he was a leech and a wife-beater.She missed gigs, was sued by various concert promoters and sunk into debt.Her son Bongani was thrown out of school for non-payment of fees.The affectionately-termed Ma-Brrr then teamed up with Twala once again in 1997 to record what would be her comeback album, Memeza (Shout).It was South Africa’s best selling album of 1998.Her next release Nomakanjani in 1999 sold more than 500 000 copies.In 1999 Fassie was on top of the world when she scooped the Kora Award for the best female artist.”I’m going to become the Pope next year.Nothing is impossible,” she said.For four years in a row Fassie won the South African Music Awards award for bestselling release for the albums Memeza, Amadlozi, Nomakanjani and Mina Nawe.All the albums earned the title of the country’s most popular album in the year of their release.Fassie celebrated her 39th birthday recently with the release of her new album Mali.- SapaShe was sleeping peacefully when she died late yesterday afternoon, her record company said.Her nephew Tshepo was with her at the time.”It is with a heavy heart and a deep sense of regret and sadness that (Fassie’s family) wishes to advise that she passed away peacefully in her sleep early this evening,” Leslie Sedibe of EMI music said.Sedibe said many South Africans, including President Thabo Mbeki and his predecessor Nelson Mandela had shown their support over the past two weeks.Funeral arrangements had not yet been made, and a formal announcement would be made in the course of next week, he said.Former ANC Woman’s League president Winnie Mandela was by the side of Sedibe at the press conference.She refused to comment, except to say “this is an extremely sad day for all of us”.Fassie’s mentor Chicco Twala and other prominent musicians were also at the hospital when the announcement was made.Fassie was admitted to the Sunninghill Hospital after an asthma attack two weeks ago.She had been in a coma since her admission and on Friday doctors advised the family there was nothing more they could do to reverse her condition.”The family has decided to leave the matter in God’s hands,” a statement said at the time.Fassie, also known as “the girl with the golden voice”, “South Africa’s queen of pop” and “undisputed queen of the vocals”, was at the forefront of black South African popular music for 20 years.Her musical future was given a kickstart when producer Koloi Lebona heard her sing in 1979, at the age of 16.Koloi recalled:”I had five or six musicians raving to me about her voice and so I decided to hear it for myself.”I had no trouble finding her mother Sarah’s house in Langa – everyone was talking about Brenda.And when I got there Brenda sang several standards for me while her mother played the piano.”There was something special about her voice.It was different to anything I had heard until then and was very mature for a 16-year-old.I knew it was the voice of the future.”He brought her back to Johannesburg where she joined the band Joy as a stand-in singer.Fassie soon left school and joined Blondie and Papa.In 1983, as part of Brenda and the Big Dudes, Fassie hit the big time with Weekend Special – which became the fastest selling record of the time and entered the Billboard Hot Black singles chart in 1986.Brenda and the Big Dudes subsequently toured the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and Brazil.Following her early success, Fassie headed into a downward spiral, spending, by her own admission, much of the early 1990s in a cocaine haze.Industry insiders and admirers noted her more extreme behaviour threatened to undermine her exceptional musical talent – but she remained one of the biggest sellers the country has ever produced.She married jailbird Nhlanhla Mbambo in 1989 and divorced him in 1991 amid accusations that he was a leech and a wife-beater.She missed gigs, was sued by various concert promoters and sunk into debt.Her son Bongani was thrown out of school for non-payment of fees.The affectionately-termed Ma-Brrr then teamed up with Twala once again in 1997 to record what would be her comeback album, Memeza (Shout).It was South Africa’s best selling album of 1998.Her next release Nomakanjani in 1999 sold more than 500 000 copies.In 1999 Fassie was on top of the world when she scooped the Kora Award for the best female artist.”I’m going to become the Pope next year.Nothing is impossible,” she said.For four years in a row Fassie won the South African Music Awards award for bestselling release for the albums Memeza, Amadlozi, Nomakanjani and Mina Nawe.All the albums earned the title of the country’s most popular album in the year of their release.Fassie celebrated her 39th birthday recently with the release of her new album Mali.- Sapa

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