South African singer and political activist Miriam Makeba died yesterday evening after a concert in Italy. She was 76.
She was being taken ill after the concert and brought to a hospital near Naples. She died later Sunday night of a heart attack.
Makeba lived in Italy for several years. She was deeply involved with the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and was forced to exile in 1959. She didn’t return until 1990 after Nelson Mandela was released from prison.
She was the first black African singer to win a Grammy Award and became world-wide famous for her addictive hit ‘Pata Pata’ from 1966.
