IN MEMORY OF BRENDA FASSIE


In December 2001, a three-page spread of Brenda appeared in Time magazine with the headline, The Madonna of the Townships. The article focused on her recent trip to America, her extraordinary talent and attention grabbing antics. She is undoubtedly the most popular performer in the land with one of the best voices in Africa and has fittingly been dubbed "The girl with the golden voice". Brenda regularly performs throughout Africa where she has a better reception than even Nelson Mandela and Michael Jackson put together.

When she was 16, the legendary producer Koloi Lebona went to Langa Township in Cape Town to hear her sing. He brought her back to Johannesburg and shortly after arriving she joined the band Joy as a stand in singer for a member. Soon after Brenda quite her schooling and took up an offer to join Blondie and Papa as a solo artist on their road show. The band Brenda and the Big Dudes, which catapulted her into fame, was formed. In 1983 they released Weekend Special, which became the fastest selling record of the time and entered the Billboard Hot Black singles chart in 1986. This led to their touring the USA, UK, Europe, Australia and Brazil.

In the 1980's Brenda's solo career exploded into superstar status. She released the hit Cool Spot and teamed up with Sello "Chicco" Twala, producer on four of her award winning albums. Now Is The Time, released in 1996, features two duets with Zairian music legend, Papa Wemba and the 1997 release Paparazzi features a duet with Bayete's Jabu Khanyile. Memeza was released in 1998 and became South Africa's best selling release of the year, earning Brenda several South African Music Awards and a 1999 Kora award for Best Female Artist. In 1999, Nomakanjani? was released, and in 2000, Amadlozi. The second half of 2001saw the release of Brenda's Greatest Hits album Mina Nawe which won the South African Music Awards for Best Selling Release, an award she has received four years in a row.