The Life of a Hero Part 2







…….Till the age of 21 when she finally found her calling in jazz music, Makeba partnered up with group called the Manhattan Brothers and all women group named Skylarks. They combined traditional African vocals with westernized jazz sounds, music lovers fell in love with their style of music and these two bands became trendsetters in local and western media to some extent.
In 1956, Makeba’s first solo success arrived under Gallotone Records when she recorded her very first solo album titled ‘lovely Eyes’. The record was released in United State and became the first ever South African album to make it to the Billboard 200 chart. During the same year, the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa was starting to boil up, Makeba came out fully supported. She secretly appeared in a documentary film titled ‘Come Back Africa’, the film won an award at the Venice film festival where Makeba was flown to Venice film festival to personally receiver an award for the movie. The film was a documentary on South Africa made by an American film director Lionel Togosin. Miriam Makeba found herself in trouble with the South African authorities who had received negative attention through the presentation of the film, she decided not to return to her own country.
The film international success opened the way for her international acclaim and she got signed on to perform in the US and Europe. Makeba landed in London in late 50’s and met her mentor, Henry Belafonte. She released the song ‘Pata pata’ which is still known among her most popular songs and put her in the class of best international musicians. She got married to an Indian man but upon divorce she moved to New York City to concentrate on making music ………


Source: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/miriam-makeba-mn0000496097/biography

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