Claim profile

Miriam Makeba

South African singer and civil rights activist (1932–2008)

  • Audience42.4K
  • Fame76.4
  • Momentum2.0
Source-basedStable
42.4K youtube followers
  • Audience42.4K
  • Fame76.4
  • Momentum2.0
  • South Africa rank#7
  • Wikipedia27.4K
Lived 1932–2008, aged 76South Africa
South Africa flagSouth AfricaGN flagDZ flagMusiciansSinger / Musician
  • Biggest on YouTube
    42.4K
    @Miriam Makeba - Topic
  • Wikipedia
    88 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Rank in South Africa
    #7
    Musicians
  • Era
    1932–2008
    Aged 76
  • Known for
    When We Were Kings
    1996
Summary
Updated 2026-06-21

She made "Pata Pata" a global hit, testified against apartheid at the UN, and paid for marrying Stokely Carmichael with her American career. The South African government banned her return for three decades; the world kept listening.

Biography

About

Born in Johannesburg in 1932 to Swazi and Xhosa parents, Zenzile Miriam Makeba sang professionally through the 1950s with the Manhattan Brothers and the Skylarks, blending jazz, traditional African melodies, and Western pop. A small role in the 1959 anti-apartheid film Come Back, Africa brought international attention and a meeting with Harry Belafonte in London, who became her mentor. She moved to New York, recorded her first solo album in 1960, and was blocked from returning home for her mother's funeral that same year. She won a Grammy with Belafonte in 1965 and released "Pata Pata" in 1967…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Miriam Makeba

Miriam Makeba
saidundated
African music, though very old, is always being rediscovered in the West.
Miriam Makeba
saidundated
I always wanted to leave home. I never knew they were going to stop me from coming back. Maybe, if I knew, I never would have left.
Miriam Makeba
saidundated
I will probably die singing.
Miriam Makeba
saidundated
When I was young, I never bought records because my brother Joseph played saxophone and had a record player.
— As quoted in Poet, J. (11 February 2009)
Miriam Makeba
saidundated
My concerts were canceled left and right.
— As quoted in Poet, J. (11 February 2009)
via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA
Press play

Listen & Watch

Spotify
Latest

On YouTube

Deep cuts

Albums

Low confidence
By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Stable
76.4
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum2.0
Historical25.0
Now attention6.8
Source confidence80.0
Completeness90.0
Global rank
—
Country rank
#7
Category rank
—
Receipts

Sources

  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence