Pop Idol Lebo Mathosa, 29, Dies in a Car Crash in South Africa
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Johannesburg, South Africa
23 October 2006 08:18
Riaan Wolmarans, Hila Bouzaglou and Sapa
South African singer Lebo Mathosa (29) died in an accident east of Johannesburg in the early hours on Monday, her manager, Linzy Cowley, said.
Mathosa's driver apparently lost control of the Toyota Prado in which they were travelling on the N3 highway on the East Rand. The vehicle overturned between the Heidelberg Road offramp and Grey Avenue in Germiston, Ekurhuleni metro police spokesperson Kobeli Mokheseng said.
The R&B and kwaito singer, whose music also incorporated elements of African music, dance and funk, died at the scene. The driver suffered minor injuries and was treated for shock.
The cause of the accident is unknown. A case of culpable homicide is being investigated.
In November 2004, after the death of pop icon Brenda Fassie, Mathosa told the Mail & Guardian in an interview: "You can't deny death, you can't fear it. I'm sure God has a better place for us, if you're a believer."
A sobbing Cowley told the M&G Online on Monday that Mathosa's death was "hard to take in".
"She was a loving, hardworking person … ours was a new relationship, but we became friends," was all she could say.
Big Boy Mlangeni, marketing manager of Bula Records, Mathosa's record company until 2002, said she was an artist whom he loved and who was loved by everyone.
"She was still very young, she had so much talent and she still had such big things to do," he said, adding that Mathosa was a "nice, jolly person. You'd always laugh around her."
Regarded as one of Africa's sexiest women and often featured on magazine covers, Mathosa first came to public attention as a short-skirted teen member of the hugely successful group Boom Shaka in the mid-1990s. She embarked on a solo career in 2000, releasing the album Dream, which won her three South African Music Awards -- best dance album, best dance single and best female vocalist.
Her second album, released in 2004, was titled Drama Queen, on which she tried out different styles to break out of the house and kwaito mould.
"It is not about fame for me. I have my fame; I've been in the scene for 10 years now. Boom Shaka put me out there, introduced me to the public. Now it is all in my hands and what do I want to do about it? Do I want to play or do I want to be serious about it? I choose to work hard for this dream," she said about the album.
Known for her electrifying live shows, she toured the world, performing from the United States and London to Singapore and at illustrious events such as the Kora Awards, North Sea Jazz Festival and Nelson Mandela's 85th birthday celebration.
Mathosa also tried her hand at acting, appearing on hit television shows including Backstage, Generations and Muvhango.
S Africa singer dies in car crash
One of South Africa's most popular singers, Lebo Mathosa, has been killed in a car crash.
Mathosa, 29, died when the driver of her car seemed to lose control on a motorway near Johannesburg.
She was one of the stars of Kwaito, a South African fusion of hip-hop, funk and traditional rhythms, and also appeared on local television dramas.
She was known for her dyed blonde hair and energetic shows, and her album Drama Queen topped the charts in 2004.
A police spokesman said Mathosa's car overturned and hit a tree.
'Devastated'
She was nominated for the UK's Music of Black Origin (Mobo) awards earlier this year.
Last year, she performed in front of huge crowds at Nelson Mandela's 85th birthday party.
Her death comes almost two years after the death of South African diva Brenda Fassie.
At the time, Mathosa told the Mail & Guardian newspaper:
"You can't deny death, you can't fear it. I'm sure God has a better place for us, if you're a believer."
She first stared in the 1990s with the group Boom Shaka, before launching her solo career.
Leslie Sedibe from Mathosa's record label EMI said staff were "devastated".
"I don't think that there is any artist after Brenda Fassie, who could match her talent and energy on stage," she said.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr//1/hi/world/africa/6076492.stm
Published: 2006/10/23 09:08:36 GMT
ANCYL STATEMENT ON THE PASSING AWAY OF LEBO MATHOSA
23 October 2006
The ANC Youth League has learnt with shock and sadness, the news about the untimely death of the musical diva Lebo Mathosa.
Lebo Mathosa was a friend and had a special relationship with the ANC YL.
Through her music, she will be remembered as an
icon,inspirator,artist,entertainer and as part of a generation that revolutionised our music industry.
We express our sincere condolences during this time of bereavement and pain,
to the Mathosa family, her friends and the entire music industry.
My her soul rest in peace,Death be not proud
More information contact
Zizi Kodwa @ 082 3304 910
Tribute to Lebo Mathosa
ReplyDeleteWomen24 bids farewell to singing sensation Lebo Mathosa.
Lebo Mathosa's potent and sensuous voice is still a powerful reminder of the young singing sensation's success with Kwaito–funk group Boom Shaka. Overnight, her voice became instantly recognisable and had the most kwaito–illiterate person singing over and over again, "...It's about time, you listened to Boom Shaka..."
At just 14 years old, Boom Shaka boosted Lebo into public life. She was both the group's vibrant dancer and charismatic lead singer. Her barely-there dress sense and easily adaptable singing voice kept her in the public eye (and ear).
In 2000, six years after joining the group, Lebo broke away to start her solo career.
No stranger to challenges, the self–described "versatile singer" experimented with a range of styles including Latin, Rap and R&B funk. Her debut album Dream went gold in just four weeks – it was merely the beginning of her accolades to come. The album garnered her a Best Dance Single award for the track Intro and a Best Female Vocalist award in 2001 at the SAMA awards.
She's since earned Style's Best Dressed Woman of the Year Award, a Best Dance Album award in 2005 and a nomination by the UK Music of Black Origin Awards for Best African Act in 2006.
Not satisfied with only showcasing her vocal and dance talents, Lebo pursued her career as a performer by exploring all options available to her. To prove this, she appeared as various feisty characters in local soaps Generations, Backstage and Muvhango. In 2003 she also starred in the local film Soldiers of the Rock. But she maintained that her first love remained singing, describing the need to sing as a "hunger" that was satisfied by producing an album – the last of which was entitled Lioness.
Her singing career has taken her across the world, including stages in Malaysia, Singapore, Swaziland, England and the United States.
In an interview with Nadia Neophytou, Lebo said, "You can't deny death, you can't fear it. I'm sure God has a better place for us, if you're a believer." These words from Lebo provide little comfort to the fans she's left behind, but her music still echoes in the minds, and throbs from the Hi–Fi systems of those who loved her sound.
Lebo Mathosa died in a car accident on the N3 highway in Germiston outside Johannesburg on 23 October 2006.
Lebo 'a shining star'
23/10/2006 12:33 - (SA)
Lebo: One of SA's bright stars
Johannesburg - Tributes poured in on Monday for the singer Lebo Mathosa who died in car accident east of Johannesburg in the early hours of the morning.
"Lebo was born and lived to be the chosen one as the epitome of what has come to be known as the 'kwaito generation.' A self-styled 'Drama Queen'," said Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan.
Jordan said few would dispute that she was the outstanding vocal leader of her generation.
"We will always remember her as a highly gifted, young African 'Drama Queen' who used her life, talent and career to promote pride, respect and appreciation for African music, dance, fashion, heritage, art and culture," said Jordan.
Ekurhuleni metro police said it appeared that Mathosa's driver lost control of the Toyota Prado they were travelling in on the N3 highway on the East Rand.
The vehicle overturned and hit a tree around 12:30 near the Heidelberg Road off-ramp.
Mathosa died at the scene, said metro police spokesperson Kobeli Mokheseng.
ANC Youth League spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said Mathosa had a special relationship with the ANC Youth League.
"The ANC Youth League has learnt with shock and sadness the news about the untimely death of the musical diva Lebo Mathosa," said Kodwa.
Kodwa said Mathosa would be remembered as an icon, an entertainer, and part of a generation that revolutionised the music industry.
"May her soul rest in peace," Kodwa said.
The IFP Youth Brigade also passed condolences to the Mathosa family.
"Lebo was a marvellous singer. We love her work and gained inspiration from her creativity and her ability to reinvent herself musically over and over again," said deputy chairperson Pat Lebenya-Ntanzi.
Lebenya-Ntanzi said she hoped Mathosa's family would gain comfort as she would live on forever in minds and hearts.
"She is a shining star who will keep shinning through all time," said Lebenya-Ntanzi.
Diva Lebo dies in midnight crash
ReplyDeleteStar thrown from rolling car on N3
October 23, 2006 Edition 4
Sholain Govender, anna louw, Barry Bateman and LINDA MBONGWA
If the South African music community had a royal family, Lebo Mathosa would have been its undisputed Drama Queen.
Her reign came to a tragic end this morning when she was killed in an accident on the N3.
Police say Mathosa died instantly when she was flung from the vehicle in which she was a passenger.
The driver lost control of the black 4x4 Toyota Prado Land Cruiser and crashed into a tree.
He escaped unhurt, but the 29-year-old musician died at the scene.
Ekurhuleni Metro Police spokesperson Inspector Kobeli Mokheseng said the accident happened at about 12.30am.
"The vehicle rolled several times throwing the 29-year-old woman from the wreck before coming to a stop against a tree.
"The 20-year-old male driver did not sustain any visible injuries but was treated for shock on the scene," he said.
Ekurhuleni metro police spokesperson, Kobeli Mokheseng said the absence of skid marks was an indication that "the driver did not apply brakes, but that something must have happened to disturb him, causing him to leave the road".
He said traffic inspectors were at the scene of the deadly crash this morning, doing a reconstruction of the accident.
"The driver alleges that he lost control of the vehicle before it overturned and it crashed into a tree, but the cause of the accident is still unknown," he added.
A case of culpable homicide has been opened wih the Alberton police.
Popularly known as South Africa's most electrifying performer, Mathosa was at the top of her game, reaping the rewards for which she had worked so hard.
She was born in the small town of Daveyton, Ekurhuleni, to Magdeline and Gerrit Mathosa, and later moved to Joburg.
They also lived in Pietersburg and Mathosa went to Maboya High School and later to St Mary's College in Joburg before getting into the music industry.
In 1994, Mathosa shot to fame as the lead vocalist and dancer for Boom Shaka, a multi-platinum-selling group that remains an icon of post-apartheid South African music.
She launched her solo career in 2002 with the single Intro, which featured on her debut album, Dream. Four weeks after Dream was launched, the album went gold.
After a long absence from the music scene, Mathosa burst back onto the landscape in 2004 with Drama Queen, an offering that shot its way up the radio charts and became a dance-floor favourite.
The album, her cover-girl status and her legendary stage performances also assured her the position of representing MTV Base as a performing artist during their Africa-wide launch events.
At events attended by industry heavyweights, dignitaries and the press, Mathosa performed to enraptured audiences in Nigeria, Kenya and Joburg.
Last month, she was nominated for a prestigious Music of Black Origin (Mobo) award in Britain in the Best African Act category.