The 1.57-meter life-size bronze statue of Brenda Fassie captures her forever on the place she loved most, the stage. She is sitting casually on a high stool, a standing microphone nearby, and next to her is an empty stool, inviting the visitor to join her. At a street level, the interactive statue is as Brenda embraced her audience. Brenda Fassie (1964-2004) was one of the most successful singers in African history. ‘MaBrrr,’ Queen of African Pop, the Madonna of the townships, and the black Madonna, were some of her nicknames. Fassie (1964-2004) started to sing for tourists as a little girl in Cape Town. At 16, she moved to Johannesburg following an offer from a music producer. At first, she joined the vocal group Joy; then, she became the lead singer for the music group Brenda and the Big Dudes. Later on, she continued solo, singing about the difficult life in the townships and against the apartheid regime in South Africa. With her grown fame, her cocaine addiction grew, and she went in and out of rehab centers. On 26 April 2004, she collapsed from an overdose and got into a comma. Two weeks later, she passed away when she was 39 years old. In her lifetime, she won more than a dozen music awards and released more than 20 albums. Among her most famous songs are – Weekend Special, Too Late for Mama, and Black President. The Sunday Times centenary heritage project commissioned her statue as part of their project to create “a trail of memorials across South Africa to commemorate some of the remarkable people and events that made history from 1906 – 2006.” The statue was created by Angus Taylor and dedicated on March 2006 in Newtown’s Bassline (currently Music Factory), a music venue in Johannesburg. In 2019 it was sent to repair and moved to the public plaza outside the Market Theatre in downtown Johannesburg. Read more...