A Common Hunger to Sing

This book pays tribute to the women who have made South African music great. In the introduction, musicologist Lara Allen gives a history of black South African women singers over the last hundred years. Informal interviews with singers grant insight into the private world of the performers at a time when it was not socially acceptable for women to be entertainers and the political situation made it extremely difficult for black musicians to perform. The singers featured include Dolly Rathebe, Miriam Makeba, Letta Mbulu, Thandie Klaasen, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Brenda Fassie.