South African musical legend Miriam Makeba dies

Miriam Makeba, the South African singer known to fans worldwide as Mama Africa, performs during her last concert in Castel Volturno, southern Italy, late Sunday night, Nov. 9, 2008. According to the Pineta Grande clinic in Castel Volturno Makeba died of a heart attack, after collapsing during her concert. She was 76

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — She died just how she wanted to — singing on stage for a good cause. And her songs wafted out of taxis and radios, as fellow Africans struggled with their grief at her passing.
Miriam Makeba, the "Mama Africa" whose sultry voice gave South Africans hope when the country was gripped by apartheid, died early Monday of a heart attack after collapsing on stage in Italy. She was 76.
In her dazzling career, Makeba performed with musical legends from around the world — jazz maestros Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie, Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon — and sang for world leaders such as John F. Kennedy and Nelson Mandela.
Her distinctive style, which combined jazz, folk and South African township rhythms, managed to get her banned from South Africa for over 30 years.
"Her haunting melodies gave voice to the pain of exile and dislocation which she felt for 31 long years. At the same time, her music inspired a powerful sense of hope in all of us," Mandela said in a statement.
He said it was "fitting" that her last moments were spent on stage.[more]http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jK_Aed0fG4UHhDXEI2SuOdZLDKHAD94C7ARO1