Mama Africa Dies at 76

Miriam Makeba, a singer from South Africa that voiced the hopes for freedom of millions of South Africans during the Apartheid years, died on Sunday after performing at a concert in Italy.

According to the International Herald Tribune, Makeba died from cardiac arrest after collapsing as she left the stage at the end of her performance. The show was a tribute to Roberto Saviano, an author that received death threats after writing about organized crime.

In 1960, Apartheid authorities revoked her citizenship while she was traveling abroad and refused to allow her into the country again. She quickly became one of the most prominent Africans exiled under the regime, and was widely known as "Mama Africa."

In a statement issued today, Nelson Mandela said that "the death of our beloved Miriam has saddened us and our nation. Her haunting melodies gave voice to the pain and exile and dislocation which she felt for 31 long years. At the same time, her music inspired a powerful sense of hope in all of us."

Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said in a separate statement, "One of the greatest songstresses of our time has ceased to sing. Throughout her life, Mama Makeba communicated a positive message to the world about the struggle of the people of South Africa and the certainty of victory over the dark forces of apartheid and colonialism through the art of song."

Makeba toured the United States in the 1960s with Harry Belafonte, and together they won a Grammy award in 1965. She also sang for President John F. Kennedy at his birthday in 1962, and performed with Paul Simon during his Graceland concert in Zimbabwe in 1987.

Makeba was 76.