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

Brenda Daniela Asnicar Mendoza (born October 17, 1991), is an Argentine actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her role of Antonelle in the two-year run (2007–2008) of the popular Argentine TV show Patito Feo.^[1]

Career[link]

Brenda Asnicar made her debut in show business at age 11, when she was chosen from among thousands of applicants to participate in of Cantaniño (aired on Telefe). Initially selected as part of the choir, she ended her participation as a co-presenter of the program. In 2002 she worked with Jimena Cyrulnik on an entertainment program. In 2003 she appeared on Chicos Argentinos on Buenos Aires channel 7, and at that time made her first CD recording - "Caminos", as part of the group from that show. In 2006 she appeared on "Tour Caminos 2006", with the Chicos Argentinos.^[2]

In 2003 Asnicar also began working as a model. She continued with such houses as Jactan and Marcela, until 2007, when she was cast as the villain "Antonella Bernardi Lamas" in Patito Feo ("Ugly Duckling"), a youth-oriented TV comedy series.

In 2007 Asnicar was named to the Clarín Entertainment Awards 2007 for "Best Female Breakout star". In 2008 she participated in "por un Sueño Patinando".

Following the success of Patito Feo, its cast, including the star, Laura Esquivel, toured several South American countries (2009).

In February 2010 Asnicar and Nicolas Zuviria made a show to advertise the album Zuviria, entitled Ellas. On 22 June 2010 Asnicar returned to interpret Antonella for a play concerning the world of Patito Feo. In 2010 she traveled to Italy to appear on the TV program Who Framed Peter Pan?, produced by Paul Bonolis.

In April 2011 she toured Italy with "Antonella in Concert, playing on her Patito Feo character.

Musical career[link]

Asnicar began her career as a member of the choir Cantaniños, on a Telefe show. As part of that group she made her first recording, "Caminos", in 2006. In 2007 she appeared on Patito Feo, which included singing. During that time she released the successful single Las Divinas.

In 2009 Asnicar performed two promotional cuts for the TV series, "Mía, mi amiga invisibe". In 2010 she appeared with "Sueña Conmigo". In 2011 she began recording and producing solo records. The first single released was "Tus Juegos", in November 2011. In November she also released her cover of an Amy Winehouse song, You Know I'm No Good, to honor the deceased British songstress.^[3][4][5]

In 2012 Brenda joined the 2nd season of the Tv serie Los Unicos in Argentina as long as she changed her outlook style, drawing her hair extensions in pink colour.Also, in April 2012 she prepare her first solo album as she wrote all her songs by herself at her studio home.This period she colaborated with the company perfumes Clider, and in the summer she will sign for a accessories -clothes shop called "Elisa De Jenario".

Musical shows and tours[link]

In 2006 the Chicos Argentinos presented the comedic show "Tour Caminos 2006".^[6] In 2007-2008 she appeared in Patito Feo: La Historia Más Linda En El Teatro, which presented the most popular songs from the TV program. In 2011 she presented several shows in Italy based on her Antonella character. In late 2011 she appeared in a fashion week show singing a cover from Amy Winehouse's hit song I'm Not Good.Moreover the song is going o be included in Brenda's solo album.

TV and film[link]

Discography[link]

Singles[link]

Shows[link]

Personal life[link]

Asnicar entered a relation with Argentine actor Andrés Gil, who had worked with her in Patito Feo.^[7] In 2010 she entered a relation with Argentine-born Manchester City F.C. football player Carlos Tévez.

References[link]

• participó en "Por los derechos del niño curado de cáncer”
• participará en la serie Los Únicos y está grabando su propio disco