Editor’s spotlight — updated daily
Miriam Makeba
South Africa
Miriam Makeba became the first African woman to win a Grammy in 1966 for her album An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba, recorded with Harry Belafonte. A Johannesburg club singer turned activist, she had her passport revoked by the apartheid government and lived in exile for decades. Known as Mama Africa, she also acted in films like Sarafina! 1992 and represented Guinea at the UN.