Brenda Nokuzola Fassie, known to her fans as MaBrrr, was a legendary South African singer, songwriter, dancer, and activist. Born on November 3, 1964, in Langa, Cape Town, Fassie was the youngest of nine children. Her mother was a pianist, and her father passed away when she was just two years old. Fassie began earning money by singing for tourists with her mother's help.

In 1981, Fassie left Cape Town for Soweto, Johannesburg, to seek her fortune as a singer. She joined the vocal group Joy and later became the lead singer for a township music group called Brenda and the Big Dudes. Fassie had a son, Bongani, in 1985 by a fellow Big Dudes musician. She married Nhlanhla Mbambo in 1989, but the pair divorced in 1991. Around this time, Fassie became addicted to cocaine, and her career suffered as a result.

Fassie used her music to oppose the apartheid regime in South Africa, frequently visiting the poorer townships of Johannesburg and singing songs about life in the townships. She enjoyed tremendous popularity and was known best for her songs "Weekend Special" and "Too Late for Mama." In 1989, Fassie released the song "Black President" as a tribute to Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner and later the first black president of South Africa.

In 1995, Fassie was discovered in a hotel with the body of her female lover, Poppie Sihlahla, who had died of an apparent overdose. Fassie underwent rehabilitation and got her career back on track, but she still had drug problems and returned to drug rehabilitation clinics about 30 times in her life. From 1996 on, she released several solo albums, most of which became multi-platinum sellers in South Africa.

On the morning of April 26, 2004, Fassie collapsed at her home in Buccleuch, Gauteng, and was admitted to a hospital in Sunninghill. She slipped into a coma brought on by an asthma attack, and the post-mortem report revealed that Fassie had taken an overdose of cocaine on the night of her collapse. She stopped breathing and suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen. Fassie died on May 9, 2004, at the age of 39, in a hospital after her life support machines were turned off. According to the South African Sunday Times and the managers of her music company, the post-mortem report also showed that she was HIV-positive, but her manager denied this aspect of the report. Her family, including her long-term partner, was at her side when she died. Fassie's bold stage antics earned her a reputation for "outrageousness," but ironically, her Xhosa name, Nokuzola, means "quiet," "calm," or "peace." She will always be remembered as the "Queen of African Pop" and "The Black Madonna."