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Birth Name:
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Abigail Kubeka
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Occupation:
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Legendary Singer, Dancer and Actress
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Date of Birth
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19 January 1945 (age 79 years)
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Place of Birth
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Orlando East, (Soweto), Gauteng |
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Nationality:
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South African |
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Gender:
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Female
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Abigail Kubeka is a legendary singer, dancer and actress best known for playing the role of Zondiwe Mogale in SABC1 soapie drama Generations: The Legacy.
Who is Abigail Kubeka?
Abigail Kubeka, (born 19 January 1945), South African Legendary Singer, Dancer and Actress. Her mother washed clothes for a living and her father worked in a warehouse. Kubeka attended a missionary boarding school in Kilnerton, near Pretoria. At an early age, Khubeka displayed her talent for singing at school.
Kubeka’s career started in 1957 when, at the age of 16, Miriam Makeba, having taken notice of her talent, invited her to join her Skylarks ensemble, which at that time also comprised the legendary Letta Mbulu and Mary Rabotaba.
Career
In the 1960s, Kubeka accompanied musical giants Abdullah Ibrahim (then Dollar Brand) and Kippie Moeketsi in cabaret performances in the nightclubs of Hillbrow.
A prolific and versatile entertainer, Kubeka went on to perform in Philip Tabane’s award-wining Jazzmakers, Tshooks Tschukudu’s Elite Swingers and Mackay Davashe’s Jazz Dazzlers.
She performed to critical acclaim across venues in Africa, Europe and Asia, appearing alongside such stars as Eartha Kitt, Percy Sledge and Monk Montgomery.
Kubeka also developed a career as an acclaimed actress in film, television and on stage. She featured in the films Hijack and The Line. Her stage roles include Des and Dawn Lindberg’s King Afrika with Henry Cele and Best Little Whorehouse in Texas with Judy Page.
In Xoli Norman’s Our Father, Ma’s got the Blues, Amen she played shebeen queen Joyce, a role which allowed her to give free voice to her love of the blues. In a performance in the documentary Sophiatown, together with Thandi Klaasen, Hugh Masekela, Dorothy Masuka, Jonas Gwangwa, Caiphus Semenya and Dolly Rathebe, Kubeka paid tribute to the indigenous jazz music of the 1950s.
She also recorded an updated version of Yini Madoda, a song first recorded by the Skylarks almost four decades earlier. The popular song captures the unbroken spirit of rural women left behind and often neglected by their men who are forced to seek work in the cities.
Kubeka writes and arranges many of her own songs. She contributed the theme song for the sequel to the well-known documentary film What Happened to Mbuyisa?.
Kubeka has commanded huge world audiences, such as at the first Miss World Pageant to be held in South Africa in 1992 and at the opening ceremony of the All Africa Games in 1999. She has also performed for more intimate audiences, including former president Nelson Mandela and Queen Elizabeth II.
Kubeka has made a major contribution to the evolution of South African music genres, and following the destruction of Sophiatown, to keeping these musical traditions alive so that a free and democratic South Africa may enjoy its cultural and especially musical legacy.
Awards
Abigail Kubeka was the recipient of the Woman of our Time Award in 1986. She was also the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 8th annual South African Film and Television (SAFTA) awards, in 2014.