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Brenda Nokuzola Fassie^[2] (3 November 1964 – 9 May 2004)^[3] was a South African singer, songwriter, dancer and activist.^[4] Affectionately called MaBrrr by her fans, she is also known as the “Queen of African Pop” or the “Madonna of the Townships“. Fassie was a legendary figure in the South African music industry, celebrated for her powerful voice, captivating stage presence, and commitment to social justice, often called one of the most influential and greatest musicians on the African Continent. She produced songs that contributed to the influence of music genres such as pop and kwaito, with her work addressing social issues in South Africa. Despite her outrageous and controversial stage presence,^[5] her name, Nokuzola, means “quiet”, “calm”, or “peace”.

Fassie was born in Langa, Cape Town on 3 November 1964,^[6] the youngest of nine children. She was named after the American singer Brenda Lee.^[6] Her father (Matthew Mangaliso Fassie) died when she was only two years old; with the help of her mother (Makokosie Fassie), a pianist, she soon started singing by the age of five beginning to earn money by singing for tourists.

When she was 16 years old in 1981, she received a visit by Hendrick “Koloi” Lebona.^[6][7] As a result, she left Cape Town for Soweto, Johannesburg, to seek her fortune as a singer. This would become the start of her career when Fassie first joined the vocal group Joy (filling in for one of the members who was on maternity leave)^[8] and later became the lead singer for a township music group called Brenda and the Big Dudes. She had a son, Bongani, in 1985 by a fellow Big Dudes musician. She married Nhlanhla Mbambo in 1989 at the age of 24 years old, but the pair divorced in 1991. Around this time she became addicted to cocaine and her career suffered as a result.^[9][10]

With very outspoken views and frequent visits to the poorer townships of Johannesburg, as well as songs about life in the townships, Fassie enjoyed tremendous popularity. She also used her music to oppose the apartheid regime in South Africa.^[11] In 1990, she released the song “Black President” as a tribute to Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner and later the first Black president of South Africa. Additionally, her tribute song to Nelson Mandela, Fassie was known to have a close personal relationship with him, and even is sometimes referred to as being his honorific niece. ^[12] Both Mandela and Fassie came from the same ethnic background that being Xhosa. During Mandelas presidential inauguration in South African during 1994, Fassie performed her song Black President for him, a historic moment that brought her music to both a national and global audience. ^[13]

Known best for her songs “Weekend Special” and “Too Late for Mama”, Fassie was dubbed “The Madonna of the Townships” by Time magazine in 2001.^[5] She was given this nickname because at the time her popularity was as notable as the American singer Madonna. ^[14] Fassie became embroiled in South Africa’s first industry beef when she was targeted by a diss track by controversial rapper Senyaka in his 1993 song, “Ma-Gents”. Many of Fassie’s music was written in the multiple different languages she spoke from English, isiZulu, isiXhosa, to Sesotho. ^[15]

In 1995, she was discovered in a hotel with the body of her female lover, Poppie Sihlahla, who had died of an apparent overdose.^[6] Fassie underwent rehabilitation and got her career back on track.^[6] However, she still had drug problems, and returned to drug rehabilitation clinics about 30 times in her life.^[6] From 1996 on she released several solo albums, including Now Is the Time (1996), Paparazzi (1997), Memeza (1998) and Nomakanjani (1999). Most of her albums became multi-platinum sellers in South Africa, of which Memeza was the best-selling album in South Africa in 1998.^[6]

Brenda Fassie’s queer identity has been cited for providing visibility for the LGBTQ+ community in South Africa.^[16] In Fassie’s early life she described herself as being a tomboy not truly understanding the concepts of homosexuality. ^[17] It was not until 1979, Fassie moved from Langa to Johannesburg when she began identifying as Lesbian. ^[17] Although Fassie had previous relationships with men, she later openly identified as a lesbian and stated that her sexuality allowed her to be “more interesting to people.” ^[18] Scholars today have noted that openly identifying as a black lesbian during late apartheid and earlier post-apartheid was complex because of the countries long history of heteronormativity and homophobia. ^[19]

Fassie’s sexuality has been discussed by its relations to social norms in South Africa at the time. In a 2003 interview, Fassie expressed her desire to marry her partner at the time, Sindi , stating that, “I’ll have a proper marriage one day… We’ll get married.” ^[17] This statement occurred three years before South Africa passed the Civil Union Act of 2006 that legalized same sex marriages. The country would become the first country in Africa to legalize same sex-marriage. Fassie’s identity has been interpreted today through intersectionality, looking at the nature of race, gender, and sexuality in shaping her persona and artistic expression. Her evolving image, has been associated with the shift in perspectives of both the social-political and culture of South Africa from the late 80s to early 2000s. ^[20]

Brenda Fassie’s music and public role has been linked to resistance culture in Apartheid South Africa. Her 1990s song “Black President” written about Nelson Mandela who had been imprisoned, would become banned in South Africa. ^[21] Though Nelson had been released from prison by the time the song hit the media, the song was prohibited by the state because it was seen as antiapartheid. ^[22] Many other songs from black artists during this time were increasingly becoming banned from the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) or censored from public broadcasting by means of surveillance. This song has since become recognized as symbolic by scholars as it has extended influence beyond the years of apartheid. ^[23]

In her song, “Sum’bulala” of 1997, Fassie addressed the issues of Taxi Wars in South Africa, an issue surrounding the violence amongst taxi operators in the townships. ^[24] Her song brought awareness to the this social issue affecting groups of people within the townships. She used multiple layers of resistance within her music, as well her queer identity went far ahead of its time socially and culturally. Though her music itself gave voices to the people in her community, her activism did not function solely on formal activism.

Fassie has been remembered for being free-spirited and by her stylish presence, at times wearing traditional African clothing in her concert performances. ^[25] Her style is characterized by her cultural pride, originality, and defiance connected her to the rising ideals of black consciousness. During this time period scholars have noted that Xhosa people were choosing to wear beaded accessories and clothing by means of showing African pride and even resistance to the colonial rule. ^[26] In addition to her use of traditional attire, she was known for her tank tops and bright, that were 1980s inspired colors, which has been noted as influencing fashion trends among South African women during the time. ^[27]

Brenda Fassie’s music contributed to the influence and popularization of genres like Bubblegum Pop and Kwaito in South Africa. ^[28] In 1980, Fassie’s music started out by contributing to bubblegum pop when she releasing her song “weekend special” that became a popular disco song, even making it to the billboards for Hot Black Singles chart. ^[29]  This song brought characteristics of pop, disco, and the township style together to create a song that fell under the genre of bubblegum pop in the 80s. Other songs like “Too Late for Mama” show her early musical style. Her music continued to remain upbeat and appealing to the South African audience throughout the 80’s.

In the 1990s, Fassie’s musical style evolved and influenced the genre of Kwaito where she began singing about controversial topics and intentionally using certain lyrics and dances to express herself. ^[29] Kwaito is associated with the music of South African youth during post-apartheid, as it is described as dance music that aimed to be apolitical. ^[30] As this genre has emerged Fassie began using elements from this category in her own music reflecting the shift in political parties and music in South Africa. Songs such as “Nomakanjani” is connected to reflect the change in her musical style. Her contributions are cited by still being influential to South African music today.  ^[29]

On the morning of 26 April 2004, Fassie collapsed at her home in Buccleuch, Gauteng, and was admitted into a hospital in Sunninghill. The press were initially told that she had suffered cardiac arrest, but later reported that she had slipped into a coma as a result of an asthma attack.^[31] The post-mortem report revealed that Fassie had taken an overdose of cocaine on the night of her collapse, and this was the cause of her coma. She stopped breathing and suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen. Fassie was visited in the hospital by Nelson Mandela, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, and Thabo Mbeki, and her condition was front-page news in South African papers.^[6][32] She died at age 39 on 9 May 2004 in hospital, without regaining consciousness, after her life support machines were turned off. Her family (including her son, Bongani Fassie, and her long-term partner – Gloria Chaka) were at her side when she died. Fassie was survived by her son, Bongani, who later entered into a legal battle over her estate and missing funds. It was alleged that about R25 million was unaccounted for, leading to a dispute over the inheritance. ^[33]

Fassie won five South African Music Awards: Best Female Artist and Song of the Year in 1999, Best-Selling Release of the Decade and Best Song of the Decade in 2004, and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.^[34] She also won three Kora Awards: Most Promising Female Artist of Africa and Best Female Artist of Africa in 1996, and the Jury Special Award in 2001. She was voted 17th in the Top 100 Great South Africans.

Her son Bongani “Bongz” Fassie performed “I’m So Sorry”, a song dedicated to his mother, on the soundtrack to the 2005 Academy Award-winning movie Tsotsi. In March 2006 a life-size bronze sculpture of Fassie by artist Angus Taylor was installed outside Bassline, a music venue in Johannesburg.^[35]

Most of Fassie’s records were issued by the EMI-owned CCP Records.

With The Big Dudes:

• 1983: Weekend Special
• 1984: Cool Spot (EP)
• 1984: Let’s Stick Together
• 1984: Someone To Love (Maxi)
• 1985: Higher and Higher
• 1985: Touch Somebody (EP)
• 1986: No No Señor

Solo albums:

• 1987: Brenda
• 1987: Ag Shame Lovey(EP)
• 1988: Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu(EP)
• 1989: Too Late for Mama
• 1990: Black President
• 1991: I Am Not a Bad Girl
• 1992: Yo Baby
• 1993: Mama(EP)
• 1994: Abantu Bayakhuluma
• 1995: Umuntu Uyashintsha
• 1996: Now Is the Time
• 1997: Paparazzi
• 1998: Memeza
• 1999: Nomakanjani
• 2000: Thola Amadlozi
• 2001: Mina Nawe :Ngohlala Ngi Nje
• 2002: Myekeleni
• 2003: Mali
• 2004: Gimme Some Volume
• 2004: Greatest Hits: The Queen of African Pop (1964–2004)

Fassie also contributed to Mandoza‘s album Tornado (2002), Miriam Makeba‘s album Sangoma (1988), and Harry Belafonte‘s anti-apartheid album Paradise in Gazankulu (1988). She sang on two of the soundtrack albums for Yizo Yizo (both released in 2004).

• Afro-pop
• Anti-apartheid music

• Brenda Fassie discography at Discogs
• Afropop! An Illustrated Guide to Contemporary African Music by Sean Barlow & Banning Eyre. (Book Sales August 1995) ISBN 0-7858-0443-9, ISBN 978-0-7858-0443-7