Brenda is a feminine given name in the English language.

Etymology[link]

The name is of uncertain origin. It may be derived from a Scandinavian language, rather than a Celtic language like the similarly-spelt masculine given name Brendan. It is possible that Brenda may be derived in part from the Old Norse element brand, meaning "(flaming) sword".^[1]

Popularity[link]

Prior to the 20th century, Brenda was primarily used in Ireland and Scotland,^[1] later it became popular in England.^[2] Its use in the Gaelic-speaking countries is attributed to the similar, although likely etymologically unrelated masculine name Brendan.^[1]

"Brenda" is used as a nickname for Queen Elizabeth II by the satirical magazine Private Eye. The comedian Stanley Baxter played the "Duchess of Brenda", a character loosely based on the Queen

People named Brenda[link]

• Brenda Archer, Guyanese high jumper
• Brenda Benet, actress
• Brenda Blethyn, English actress
• Brenda Brabham, American beauty queen and QVC model
• Brenda Bruce, English actress
• Brenda Bufalino, tap dancer
• Brenda Buttner, TV news
• Brenda Castillo, Dominican Republic volleyball player
• Brenda Davies, wife of Robertson Davies
• Brenda De Banzie, British actress of stage and screen
• Brenda Dervin, American Professor, The Ohio State University
• Brenda Dickson, American actress, originated the role of Jill Foster on The Young and the Restless
• Brenda Eisler, Canadian long jumper
• Brenda Fassie, South African pop singer
• Brenda Fricker, Irish actress
• Brenda Gibbs, Australian actress
• Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, first female Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
• Brenda Holloway, American singer
• Brenda Joyce:
  • Brenda Joyce (author), American writer
  • Brenda Joyce (actress) (1917-2009), American film actress (1930s–1940s)
• Brenda Lee, American singer
• Brenda Maddox, biographer
• Brenda Marshall, American actress
• Brenda Matthews, New Zealand sprinter
• Brenda Pye, English artist
• Brenda Reimer, the name by which David Reimer was known until age 13
• Brenda Robertson, Canadian politician
• Brenda Russell, American singer/songwriter
• Brenda Sue Schaefer, murder victim
• Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, Dutch former tennis player
• Brenda Song, American actress and singer, stars as London Tipton in "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody"
• Brenda Ann Spencer, American convicted murderer
• Brenda K. Starr, American singer
• Brenda Starr (comic strip), long-running comic strip
• Brenda Stauffer, field hockey player
• Brenda Strong, American actress
• Brenda Vaccaro, Italian-American actress
• Brenda Venus, American actress, writer, and director
• Brenda Villa, Mexican-American polo player

Fictional people named Brenda[link]

• Brenda Barrett Corinthos, character on the soap opera General Hospital
• Brenda Bates, character in Urban Legend
• Brenda Chenowith, character in Six Feet Under
• Brenda Jenkins, character in 227
• Brenda, character from Perfect Hair Forever
• Brenda, nickname of Rope Girl, character from the animated Disney show Teamo Supremo
• Brenda, daughter of Magnus Troil, character in Sir Walter Scott's novel The Pirate
• Brenda Walsh, character in Beverly Hills, 90210 (TV series 1990-2000) played by Shannen Doherty.
• Brenda Meeks, friend of Cindy Campbell of Scary Movie series played by Regina Hall. In A Vampire's love, Regina's character had the same name and is played by Emily Shepherd.

References[link]

This page or section lists people that share the same given name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.

Brenda Fassie
Brenda Fassie sculpture
Background information
Born	(1964-11-03)November 3, 1964
Origin	Langa, Cape Town, South Africa
Died	May 9, 2004(2004-05-09) (aged 39)
Genres	Pop

Brenda Fassie (3 November 1964 – 9 May 2004^[1]) was a South African pop singer. She was known for her "outrageousness"^[2] and widely considered^[who?] a voice for disenfranchised blacks during apartheid. She was affectionately known as the Queen of African Pop and her nickname among fans was Mabrr.

Biography[link]

Fassie was born in Langa, Cape Town,^[3] as the youngest of nine children. She was named after the American singer Brenda Lee.^[3] Her father died when she was two, and with the help of her mother, a pianist,^{[citation needed]} she started earning money by singing for tourists.^[3]

In 1981, at the age of 16, she left Cape Town for Soweto, Johannesburg, to seek her fortune as a singer. Fassie first joined the group Joy and later became the lead singer for the township pop group Brenda And The Big Dudes. She had a son, Bongani, in 1985 by a fellow Big Dudes musician. She married ex-convict Nhlanhla Mbambo in 1989 but divorced in 1991. Around this time she became addicted to cocaine and her career suffered.

With very outspoken views and frequent visits to the poorer townships of Johannesburg, as well as songs about life in the townships, she enjoyed tremendous popularity. Known best for her songs "Weekend Special" and "Too Late for Mama", she was dubbed "The Madonna of the Townships" by Time in 2001.

In 1995 she was discovered in a hotel with the body of her lesbian lover, Poppie Sihlahla, who had died of an apparent overdose.^[3] Fassie underwent rehabilitation and got her career back on track.^[3] However, she still had drug problems and returned to drug rehabilitation clinics^[3] about 30 times in her life.

From 1996 she released several solo albums such as Now Is The Time, Memeza (1997, the best-selling album in South Africa in 1998^[3]) and Nomakanjani?. Most of her albums became multi-platinum sellers in South Africa.

Her family, including her long term partner, were at her side when she succumbed to a cardiac arrest in 2004.

Death[link]

On the morning of 26 April 2004, Fassie collapsed at her home in Buccleuch and was admitted into the Sunninghill hospital in Johannesburg. The press were told that she had suffered cardiac arrest but later reported that she had slipped into a coma brought on by an asthma attack. The post-mortem report revealed that she had taken an overdose of cocaine in the night of her collapse, and this was the cause of her coma. She stopped breathing and suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen. Fassie was visited in the hospital by Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela, and Thabo Mbeki, and her condition was front-page news in South African papers.^[3][4] She died aged 39 on 9 May 2004 in hospital without returning to consciousness after her life support machines were turned off. According to the South African Sunday Times and the managers of her music company, the post-mortem report also showed that she was HIV-positive. Her manager, Peter Snyman, denied this aspect of the report.

Recognition[link]

She was voted 17th in the Top 100 Great South Africans.

Her son Bongani 'Bongz' Fassie performed on the soundtrack to the 2005 Academy Award-winning movie Tsotsi. He dedicated his song "I'm So Sorry" to his mother.

In March 2006 a life-size bronze sculpture of Fassie by artist Angus Taylor was installed outside the Bassline music venue in Johannesburg.^[5]

Selected discography[link]

Most of Fassie's records were issued by the EMI-owned CCP Records, which released an estimated 15 albums by the artist.

• 1989: Brenda
• 1990: Black President
• 1994: Brenda Fassie
• 1995: Mama
• 1996: Now Is Time
• 1997: Memeza
• 1997: Paparazzi
• 2000: Thola Amadlozi
• 2001: Brenda The Greatest Hits
• 2003: Mali
• 2003: The Remix Collection
• 2004: Gimme Some Volume

She also made contributions to Mandoza's album Tornado (2002), Miriam Makeba's album Sangoma (1988), and Harry Belafonte's 1988 anti-apartheid album Paradise in Gazankulu, and sang Yizo, Yizo to the soundtrack for Yizo, Yizo (2004).

References[link]

• Afropop! An Illustrated Guide to Contemporary African Music by Sean Barlow & Banning Eyre. (Book Sales August 1995) ISBN 0-7858-0443-9, ISBN 978-0-7858-0443-7