Brenda Nokuzola Fassie was a South African singer and songwriter. Named after the American country music star Brenda Lee, Fassie took to show business at an early age and began performing for audiences at the age of 5.[1]
Affectionately nicknamed MaBrrr by her fans, the media frequently referred to her as the "Queen of African Pop", or "Madonna of the Townships".[2] Hers was an important voice for disenfranchised blacks in apartheid-era South Africa — particularly her 1990 song "Black President" which came out following Nelson Mandela's return to freedom after 27 years as a political prisoner. It was immediately banned by the de Klerk government but quickly became part of the pantheon of anti-apartheid songs.[3]
Nelson Mandela was elected President just four years later in South Africa's first free and democratic elections.
Her song "Vuli Ndlela" remains popular today. It is to African weddings what The Village People's "YMCA" is to weddings in North America.