Brenda Fassie
The Brenda Fassie bronze is a 1.57 meter life-size bronze sculpture sitting on a stool next to another stool and in front of a standing microphone.
The piece is mounted on a bronze stage, 350mm high with a 200mm step-up. There is text superimposed on the body, all quotes by Fassie on her relationship with the media.
The sculpture is supported by a black plaque with white text contextualizing the artwork, including the Sunday Times, City of Joburg and BASA logos.
A brief history
Brenda Fassie was one of Africa's biggest ever home-grown stars, South Africa's top-selling local artist and what her record company EMI called "a once-in-a-generation artist, a true idol".
A pop diva, her 1998 ‘come back’ album Memeza sold 50 000 units in the first four hours of its release and, ultimately, more than 600 000 copies. Four of her albums, Amadlozi (1999), Nomakanjani (2000), Mina Nawe (2001) and Mali (2003) were the biggest selling albums of the year. In the last eight years of her life she earned R6-million in royalties alone.
The music purists who dismissed Brenda’s brand as ‘bubblegum’ surely missed the point: because that’s what multitudes of young fans wanted and they voted with their feet …
Yet Fassie was often broke. "I'd rather have happiness than money. People ask for it. Sometimes when I don't have it. I make other people's problems my problem because they want me to; they ask me to," said the star who once agreed with a reporter that she was "ridiculously generous with family, friends and even friends of friends".
Time magazine called her the Madonna of the Townships, the Sunday Times called her South Africa's undisputed queen of pop and the Sowetan, the chick with chutzpah. But for most she was MaBrrr or simply Brenda, a phenomenon like no other.
Born in Langa, Cape Town, she started singing with a neighbourhood band called The Tiny Tots at age 5. At 17 producer and talent scout Koloi Lebona brought her to Joburg where she went to Gibson Kente's music and drama school in Soweto.
Singing with the band Brenda & The Big Dudes, she cut her first single Weekend Special and became an overnight sensation – a starry night that lasted 20 years.
Unpredictable, volatile, passionate - Brenda had a love-hate relationship with the media, who documented all her highs and lows, of which there were many.
"I am a shocker. I like to create controversy. It's my trademark," she once said, as well as the brazen, "I'm going to become the Pope next year. Nothing is impossible."
It was said that though she might not have been good looking, "she had a raw, animal magnetism that made her irresistible to men and women".
To quote the diva herself: "You know what, at the next OKTV Awards I wanna go there just in my jacket with nothing else on. I loved it when Madonna did that. I thought wow, woman, you are me... Madonna in Soweto." On another occasion, however, she said she didn't understand why people compared her with Madonna. "Maybe it's because of the way we dress."
When she married for the first and only time - Nhlanhla Mbambo, a millionaire's son from Durban in 1989 - there were three receptions.
Only close friends were invited to the one at the Sandton Sun Hotel in Joburg. To avoid gatecrashers at her Cape Town wedding, held in Parow, computerised invites, with a secret watermark, were printed. One thousand people pitched at the church, standing on pews, hanging over the pulpit and forming a solid mass at the altar. The priest said he had officiated at many weddings "but never have I experienced anything like this. I may be bruised, battered and bewildered, but it was wonderful."
It took Brenda the bride 30 minutes to walk from the car - a black Cadillac with tinted windows - to the altar as TV crews and photographers jostled to capture her. Her dress had a four-metre train and Yvonne Chaka Chaka was her chief bridesmaid. Police had to be called to restore order among the fans.
More than 18000 people packed the KwaMashu Stadium for her Durban wedding, where Brenda and her groom arrived by helicopter. She wore a different designer gown to each wedding.
Visitors to her hospital bed before she died included former president Nelson Mandela, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and President Thabo Mbeki.
Brenda’s only child, a son Bongani born in 1985, was the constant companion of her life. Bongz - his pet name - is now the name he uses professionally. He is an accomplished jazz pianist
When his mother died Bongani paid her tribute: “I know that Brenda Nokuzola Majoni Fassie was a great loss to all of us locally and globally, but the one thing she told me was to spread love, strive for better things and to have confidence in myself no matter what people say.”
Inscription
Brenda Fassie, known as the Madonna of the townships, was one of Africa's biggest home-grown stars, South Africa's top-selling local artist and what her record company EMI called 'a once in a generation artist, a true idol'. But for most she was MaBrrr or simply Brenda, a phenomenon like no other. As Brenda once said while talking to fans on Umhlobo Wenene FM: "I will always be this way".
Submitted pictures
At Flickr
