Rebecca Malope

Rebecca Malope is a South African gospel singer who rose to international stardom in the late '90s. Malope was born on a tobacco farm in South Africa. As a child, she and her sisters sang in hymns in a local church. She joined a gospel group in her teens, which led her to Johannesburg. She eventually was brought to the attention of producer Zizwe Zakho, who had Malope record a large variety of material, from disco and pop to love ballads and gospel. Her records became popular in South Africa and soon she recorded an entire album of gospel, to satiate the desire of both herself and her fans. The gospel record was so well-received, she decided to devote her career to South African gospel. In 1996, she released her first American record. The following year, she signed with the EMI subsidiary Hemisphere and released Free At Last: South African Gospel in November. She supported the album with an international tour. In 2004, she began her show on SABC 2 called It's Gospel Time, which is still running 10 years later. The awards she has received in recognition of her very impressive career in the music industry are too many to even begin counting. But, in those, there are 15 SAMAs and an Honorary Doctorate, an achievement that has not been reached by any South African artist in all genres combined. She is undoubtedly the Gospel Legend of the African continent. Her estimated net worth is $95 Million. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.