7. Miriam Makeba (1932-2008)
PHOTOGRAPH BY SALVATORE LAPORTA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Also known as Mama Africa, Miriam Makeba was a Grammy Award-winning singer from South Africa. Her musical style ranged from jazz to Afro-soul to marabi, a type of popular music that originated in the Black townships of South Africa. The first artist from Africa to popularize African music around the world, Makeba was also a civil rights activist and one of the most-outspoken opponents of the apartheid regime. As a result, the South African government revoked her passport in 1960 and three years later denied her the right to return to her country. After 30 years in exile, Makeba was able to return only when the system of Apartheid was dissolved. She died in 2008 of a heart attack, after performing her hit song “Pata Pata” at a concert in Italy organized to take a stand against the Camorra, a mafia-like organization.
