Brenda Fassie

Queen of African pop

Brenda Fassie. Photo courtesy photographer695

Brenda Fassie, described in a 2001 Time magazine feature as the “Madonna of the Townships”, was born in 1964 in Langa, a township near Cape Town designated for black South Africans in the apartheid era. The youngest of nine siblings, she was brought up by her widowed mother.

From an early age, Fassie showed musical promise, bringing in money by singing for tourists. At the age of 16, she headed for the bright lights of Johannesburg, where she began her career in a group called Joy. Brenda and the Big Dudes later began to rock the townships with hits such as Weekend Special, which became the fastest-selling record in South Africa in 1983. Brenda and the Big Dudes toured the US, Britain, Europe, Australia and Brazil.

In the late 1980s, the high-rise Johannesburg suburb of Hillbrow became a “grey area”, attracting a multiracial, eclectic mix of artistic and free-thinking people who experimented with their sexuality and partied hard. “MaBrrr” was part of this set. With one marriage behind her and a son by a fellow member of the Big Dudes, the young and edgy singer recreated her image and further developed her musical style. Wearing a red wig and funky outfits, Fassie hit the night-club scene. Her partnership with producer Sello “Chicco” Twala proved to be one of the most successful in the South African music business, and theiralbum Too Late for Mama went platinum in 1989.

An outspoken and controversial figure, the openly bisexual Fassie battled addiction and was frequently in rehab. When her lover, Poppie Sihlahla, died of an apparent overdose in 1995, Fassie tried to get clean again and put her career back on track. A year later, she produced her own album, Now is the Time; her solo album, Memeza, became the best-selling album in South Africa in 1998.

It was drug addiction that would claim the life of “Queen Bee” in 2004 – she went into cardiac arrest after a cocaine overdose and was in a coma in Johannesburg’s Sunninghill Hospital for two weeks. The people of South Africa followed Fassie’s final days, which were extensively covered in the press. Nelson Mandela, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Thabo Mbeki all spent time at her bedside. She died on May 9, 2004 at the age of 39.

In 2004, a controversial South African television programme attempted to list the “100 Greatest South Africans” of all time. Fassie was placed 17th on the list – a rank that is testament to her popularity and the influence she gained as a voice for the marginalised. Though her life was racked by scandal, her vulnerability endeared her to a huge fan base.