Legendary singer Blondie Makhene believes South Africa failed Brenda Fassie

29 August 2016 - 17:43 By TMG Entertainment
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Music veteran Blondie Makhene believes South Africa failed to take care of Brenda Fassie, among other artists, explaining that the pressures that often came with overbooking them drove musicians to substance abuse in order to cope.

According to a Sowetan report, Blondie was speaking at  the One Night in No Man's Land sessions on Saturday at SoMa Art + Space in Maboneng, Johannesburg when he shared his thoughts on where Brenda would be in her career had she not died.

He explained that artists were often made to work too hard, and as a result, had to take drugs in an attempt to remedy their physical and mental exhaustion. Blondie, who previously worked with Brenda, further pointed out that this is what the country did to Brenda, which ultimately led to her death.

"It is not easy to move from one gig to another after a performance. You do not have time to sleep because you are constantly on the road. In some parts of the world, they ask you if you want to do the tour or not, and they give you cocaine to keep you energetic and awake," he was quoted as saying by the local publication.

Blondie also claimed that Brenda's career would be still be at it's peak if she were still alive, given that "she had an amazing voice".

Blondie made his mark as a producer, after rising to fame in the late 1960s, earning credits on some of Brenda's greatest hits, including Weekend Special and Life Is Going On. The two shared a a close relationship, soon after Blondie took Brenda under his wing.

"We had a tough time convincing EMI executives that this was the future South African pop star [Brenda Fassie] because, quite frankly, she was lacking in the looks department," Blondie told the Sunday Independent during an interview in 2014.

"We managed to convince the executives to pay for her dentures and my wife took care of her image and wardrobe."

Brenda passed away on 9 May 2004‚ at the age of 39‚ when her life support machine was turned off. She had slipped into a coma and a post-mortem later revealed that she had overdosed on cocaine.

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