Makeba, Miriam Zenzile (1932–2008)

South African singer. In political exile 1960–90, she was one of the first world-music performers to make a name in the West, and is particularly associated with ‘The Click Song’, which features the glottal clicking sound of her Xhosa language. She was also known for her opposition to apartheid, and during the apartheid era her records were banned.

Makeba sang with a group called the Skylarks 1956–59. Introduced to US audiences in 1960 when folk music was popular, she performed many traditional songs as well as South African pop songs, such as ‘Pata Pata’ and ‘Mbube’, with jazz stylings. She returned to international prominence when she performed with Paul Simon on the Graceland tour in 1987, and in 1988 she released Sangoma, a comeback album consisting of a collection of Xhosa songs she had learned as a child.

Her first two marriages were to trumpeter Hugh Masekela and Black Power leader Stokeley Carmichael.