Karen Rutter
Veteran jazz singer Thandi Klaasen, known for her distinctive voice and feisty personality, passed away over the weekend aged 86. She died of pancreatic cancer.
Carving a career
Klaasen grew up in Sophiatown, and her career as a singer and dancer began in the mid 1950s. She was apparently inspired when a group called The Jazz Maniacs visited her school, and she formed her own female quartet called The Quad Sisters. Shockingly, in her teens she was attacked with an acid bomb that permanently disfigured her face. She spent a year in hospital recovering, and has to rebuild her confidence as a performer.
In 1961 she moved to London to work on the famous musical King Kong by composer Todd Matshikiza (which is going to be revived at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town later this year). Choosing to stay abroad rather than return to apartheid South Africa, where the avenues for artists were becoming severely restricted, she carved a respectable career for herself in the UK, Europe and the United States. During the course of her career, Klaasen performed with the likes of Miriam Makeba and Dolly Rathebe.
Awards
Klaasen was honoured with the Order of Ikamanga/Order of the Baobab in 2006 for her song Sophiatown, in which she “masterfully and beautifully described the town where she was brought up”. In August 2013, as part of the Women’s Month celebrations, Klaasen and four other icons of South African jazz – Abigail Kubheka, Dorothy Masuka, Sathima Bea Benjamin and Sylvia Mdunyelwa – were honoured by Standard Bank with lifetime achievement awards. Other awards she has received include the Woman of Distinction Award received in Canada (1999),and a lifetime achievement award at the 2006 South African Music Awards.
Tributes from all over have been pouring in since the news of Klaasen’s death broke this weekend, with the Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa, TV personality Felicia Mabuza Suttle, performer Amanda Strydom and others sending condolences.
Watch: Thandi Klaasen perform My Way:
WS
