When I was young, I never bought records because my brother Joseph played saxophone and had a record player. I loved listening to his records: The Do… - Miriam Makeba

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When I was young, I never bought records because my brother Joseph played saxophone and had a record player. I loved listening to his records: The Dorsey Brothers, Duke Ellington, all the big American jazz bands, and vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald, Ernestine Anderson, and Kitty White, a singer from the US who was a friend of Nina Simone. Nobody in America seems to know about her, but she was quite popular in South Africa.

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About Miriam Makeba

Miriam Makeba (4 May 1932 – 10 November 2008) was a South African Grammy-awarded singer, songwriter, author, actress, former UN ambassador, and civil rights activist, also known as "The Empress of African Song" and Mama Africa.

Also Known As

Pen Names: Mama Africa
Birth Name: Zenzile Miriam Makeba
Alternative Names: Miriam Zenzi Makeba Zensile Makeba Qgwashu Nguvama Yiketheli Nxgowa Bantana Balomzi Xa Ufnu Ubajabulisa Ubaphekeli Mbiza Yotshwala Sithi Xa Saku Qgiba Ukutja Sithathe Izitsha Sizi Khabe Singama Lawu Singama Qgwashu Singama Nqamla Nqgithi Mirjam Makeba Miriam Zenat Makeba
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In New York I heard A Piece of Ground, written by a white South African, Jeremy Taylor. I modified it a little and sang it myself. That song is very special to me because it deals with the land question in southern Africa. We were dispossessed of our land.<ref name="Al-Ahram Weekly">

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I didn’t have much, but I was always happy to share what I did have. It seemed like every African that came to New York City would show up at my apartment door at dinnertime, and I couldn’t turn them away. I wasn’t much older than any of them, but they started calling me ‘Mama Africa’ and the name stuck.

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