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SINGER

Miriam Makeba

1932 - 2008

Photo of Miriam Makeba

Icon of person Miriam Makeba

Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she was an advocate against apartheid and white-minority government in South Africa. Born in Johannesburg to Swazi and Xhosa parents, Makeba was forced to find employment as a child after the death of her father. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Miriam Makeba has received more than 2,306,724 page views. Her biography is available in 73 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 70 in 2019). Miriam Makeba is the 80th most popular singer (down from 76th in 2019), the 11th most popular biography from South Africa (up from 12th in 2019) and the most popular South African Singer.

Miriam Makeba is most famous for being a singer and songwriter. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and grew up in a township. She became a singer in the 1950s and eventually left her country to live in the United States. She became an international sensation in the 1960s with a song called "Pata Pata."

Memorability Metrics

  • 2.3M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 66.28

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 73

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 6.12

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.60

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Miriam Makebas by language


Among SINGERS

Among singers, Miriam Makeba ranks 80 out of 3,528. Before her are Glen Campbell, Prince, Bonnie Tyler, Florence Foster Jenkins, Anna Magdalena Bach, and Marie Fredriksson. After her are Fairuz, Rihanna, Steven Tyler, Shakira, Dieter Bohlen, and France Gall.

Most Popular Singers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1932, Miriam Makeba ranks 26. Before her are Sylvia Plath, Fernando Botero, Víctor Jara, Pat Morita, Raisa Gorbacheva, and Gerhard Richter. After her are Camilo Cienfuegos, Michel Legrand, Anthony Perkins, François Englert, Carlos Saura, and Donald Rumsfeld. Among people deceased in 2008, Miriam Makeba ranks 18. Before her are Albert Hofmann, Hua Guofeng, Sydney Pollack, Jørn Utzon, Harold Pinter, and Richard Widmark. After her are Richard Wright, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Yma Sumac, Michael Crichton, Heath Ledger, and Jules Dassin.

Others Born in 1932

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Others Deceased in 2008

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In South Africa

Among people born in South Africa, Miriam Makeba ranks 11 out of 374. Before her are Desmond Tutu (1931), J. M. Coetzee (1940), Shaka (1787), Christiaan Barnard (1922), F. W. de Klerk (1936), and Nadine Gordimer (1923). After her are Charlize Theron (1975), Jacob Zuma (1942), Max Theiler (1899), Thabo Mbeki (1942), Paul Kruger (1825), and Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark (1942).

Others born in South Africa

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Among SINGERS In South Africa

Among singers born in South Africa, Miriam Makeba ranks 1. After her are Dave Matthews (1967), Yolandi Visser (1984), Theuns Jordaan (1971), Brenda Fassie (1964), ZP Theart (1975), Shaun Morgan (1978), Alice Phoebe Lou (1993), and Bok van Blerk (1978).

South African born Singers

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