Lebo Mathosa

Lebo Mathosa
Birth nameLebogang Precious Mathosa
Born(1977-07-17)17 July 1977
Daveyton, Benoni, South Africa
OriginSouth Africa
Died23 October 2006(2006-10-23) (aged 29)
Germiston, South Africa
GenresKwaito, Hip hop
Occupation(s)Singer, actress
Years active1994–2006
Labels
  • EMI Africa
  • Bula Records

Lebogang Precious Mathosa (17 July 1977 – 23 October 2006) was a South African kwaito singer. Mathosa started her career as a founding member of the popular South African band Boom Shaka in 1994 at the age of 17, after she caught the eye of music producer Don Laka at a club in Johannesburg. [1]

She was well known for her dyed blonde hair, her live shows, her hoarse voice, her constant reinvention, her energetic dance moves and outrageous stage outfits, and was openly bisexual.[2] She was frequently compared to the South African singer Brenda Fassie who influenced her career, who died in 2004. Mathosa won the Style Best Dressed Woman of the Year Award in 2001, and was nominated by FHM magazine as one of Africa's sexiest women.[3]

Mathosa died in a car crash after a great performance, aged 29 when her driver lost control of the vehicle, a Toyota Prado, in which they were travelling on the N3 Highway in the East Rand.[4][5]

  1. ^ Mhlambi, Thokozani. "'Kwaitofabulous': The study of a South African urban genre", Journal of the Musical Arts in Africa, vol. 1 (2004): 116–27.
  2. ^ Tonight Archived 5 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 24 October 2006
  3. ^ Talent Finders Archived 27 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 24 October 2006
  4. ^ "BBC report of Mathosa's death". Retrieved 23 October 2006.
  5. ^ "Singer Lebo Mathosa dies in car crash". 23 October 2006.