Brenda Fassie (November 3, 1964 – May 9, 2004), was a legendary South African pop singer and widely considered the voice for disenfranchised blacks during apartheid. She was affectionately known as the Queen of African Pop. Brenda was born in Langa, Cape Town as the youngest of 9 children. She was named after Brenda Lee, an American country singer. Her father died when she was 2, and with the help of her mother, a pianist, she started earning money by singing for tourists. She was voted 17th in the Top 100 Great South Africans.