Celebrating Miriam Makeba on the 56th Anniversary of Her Iconic Debut Album

As we celebrate the 56th anniversary of South African singer/songwriter Miriam Makeba’s self-titled debut album on May 11, Alicia Perez, Schomburg Communications Pre-Professional, reflects on her inspiring life and music career.

For over half a century, the world has embraced international hits like “Mbube (The Lion Sleeps Tonight),” “Olilili,” and “Where Does It Lead” from songstress Miriam Makeba (born Zenzile Miriam Makeba). Often called Harry Belafonte’s protégé or Mama Africa, Makeba made her debut in the United States on The Steve Allen Show in November 1959, after starring in the internationally recognized anti-apartheid documentary Comeback, Africa, and the South African musical King Kong.

One of the most moving things about Makeba’s music is her ability to turn a painful theme into a uplifting tune, like “The Retreat Song,” which opens her iconic 1960 self-titled debut album, about a Xosa warrior's defeat. “The Click Song,” “Nomeva,” and “Saduva” are also rooted in Xosa beats, but Makeba’s musical range is expansive. “Suliram” is an Indonesian lullaby, and “One More Dance” is an Austrian tune about a satirical battle of the sexes. Belafonte once described her music as “…strangely powerful, a startling blend of the highly sophisticated and the primitive." In the decades following her debut, Makeba continued to inspire and influence a number of artists—from Nina Simone to Miles Davis—while uplifting the citizens of South Africa during Apartheid-era South Africa.

Though she faced great challenges throughout her whole life—apartheid, breast cancer, a teenage pregnancy, being exiled from her own home, and losing her 35-year-old daughter—her music remained upbeat and her performances consistently enchanted her audiences. When the album was released in 1960, just after Makeba became acquainted with Belafonte and his wife at the time, Julia Robinson, her life was rife with uncertainty and a sense of insecurity. However, Makeba’s 2004 autobiography, Makeba: the Miriam Makeba Story, housed here in our Jean Blackwell Hudson Research and Reference Division, tells the story of a resilient woman:

 “I have had great times and I’ve had difficulties. I have had mountains put in front of me but I climb and I get up. I always said ‘Fine, Makeba, if you go down and you fall, if the ground opens up and covers you that is that! But if you go down and the earth doesn’t cover you up—you must come up again!’ And I did.”

For those interested in bringing more of Makeba's music into their lives, visit our Jean Blackwell Hudson Research and Reference Division where you will find The World of African Song, a book of her sheet music.