Miriam Makeba Dies

South African singer/activist Miriam Mekaba died yesterday in Italy after perfoming a concert there. I was immediately reminded of her biggest hit "Pata Pata" , which as kids, my brothers, sisters, cousins and I tried to sing along with using our own made up lyrics because we couldn't under stand the lyrics which she sang in her native tongue. She was briefly married to fellow South African native Hugh Maskela, who scored a monster pop hit with the jazz & carribean inflected instrumental "Grazing in the Grass" , which itself was remade into another smash by the Friends of Distinction. According to Wikipedia, "her later marriage to Trinidadian civil rights activist and Black Panthers leader Stokely Carmichael in 1968 caused controversy in the United States, and her record deals and tours were cancelled". She and Hugh were also major supporters of the fight against apartheid, further reminding me of that along with Nina Simone, many of our great artists who stood for something are now gone.