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'I just wanna be loved'
10/05/2004 13:20 - (SA)
Johannesburg - South African pop star Brenda Fassie, who died on Sunday at age 39, just desired one thing, as she once said.
"I wanna be loved. I just wanna be loved."
Fassie was a daring and brash singer known as much for her energetic onstage performances as for her colorful life away from the microphone.
Adored by millions throughout South Africa and beyond, she was nicknamed the "Madonna of the townships", in allusion to the equally controversial and creative American singer.
Born in 1964 in Langa, outside Cape Town, Fassie moved to Johannesburg in her teens where a stand-in gig launched her singing career.
But as much as her voice, described as "power-packed, versatile and gutsy" did for her singing career, so did the controversy surrounding her antics on and off the stage.
"I'm a shocker. I like to create controversy. It's my trademark," she once said in an interview.
The tabloids devoted reams to following her every move - "Caught in the act!" read one recent headline, which speculated on Fassie's new lover, a man half her age.
Her penchant for shocking audiences reached new heights in 2001 while performing in a club in Washington, DC, where her breasts popped out of her tight-fitting costume.
"The audience gasped, but Fassie unabashedly grabbed her bare bosom and thrust it at the crowd," Time magazine said of the show.
"This," she proclaimed, "is Africa!"
Destined to become a superstar
From an early age it became clear she was destined to become one of South Africa's superstars.
Named after US country singer Brenda Lee, Fassie was already earning money by her fifth birthday, singing to tourists.
Her first breakthrough came in the early 1983 with the song Weekend Special which topped the charts and received wide international play, becoming the fastest selling record at the time.
With fame came temptation. Fassie, with characteristic openess, said she was a drug addict and bisexual - a social taboo in the townships - her reputation started to spiral downwards.
Fans started to boycott her concerts after she failed to show up for several performances, and in 1992 she was convicted of assaulting a photojournalist.
Despite her struggles with drugs, she continued to record albums.
But asked what it was like to work with Congolese musician Papa Wemba during one album, she said: "I can't remember a thing, I was so high."
In 1997 she recorded her comeback album Memeza (Shout), released a year later.
The album became SA's best selling release a year later, selling 500 000 copies and earning Fassie several awards.
In the latter stages of her career her voice also matured, as she sang in the "kwaito" township style.
Despite her bad-girl image and sometimes eye-popping behaviour, Fassie's popularity remained cemented firmly within South African pop culture.
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