The life of Grammy Award-winning South African singer and activist Miriam Makeba was celebrated on Google’s search engine home page today. Born on March 4 1932, she would’ve turned 81. Makeba is regarded as the first artist to put African music on the world map. Her hit songs include the signature track Pata Pata, Aluta Continua, and Qongqothwane (the Click Song). Makeba was an anti-apartheid campaigner – she testified against the South African government at the United Nations in 1963 and had her citizenship revoked. In 1990 she returned home from the US and her career continued to grow. The singer, who was fondly nicknamed Mama Africa, died of a heart attack in November 2008 after performing at a concert in Italy.
