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Margaret Singana (b. Margaret Mcingana, 1938, Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, d. 22 April 2000) was a South African musician.
In the 1950s Singana moved to Johannesburg and soon started performing with The Symbols. In 1972 she made "Good Feelings" with the band. She became the first black artist to feature on the Radio 5 hit parade. Singana's song "I never loved a man the way I loved you" became a hit. In 1973, Singana was cast as the lead singer in the musical Ipi Tombi and soon made herself famous with the song "Mama Tembu's Wedding". She suffered from bad health for many years but in 1986 she returned to sing "We Are Growing", the theme song from the television series Shaka Zulu.
Singana has received many awards, including the 1976/1977 critics award from the British magazine Music Week. She was known as "Lady Africa" in Southern Africa.
Although she enjoyed her greatest success during the Seventies, she made a triumphant comeback following a debilitating stroke in 1978. In 1986 Margaret Singana returned to the microphone to sing 'We Are Growing', the theme song from the television series "Shaka Zulu" which went to number 1 in Holland in 1989. But that was to be her final bow and she died largely forgotten, and in a financial situation unbefitting a star appropriately and affectionately dubbed "Lady Africa".
Margaret M'cingana, as she was christened, left Queenstown in the Eastern Cape to work in Johannesburg. She first appeared in the musicals 'Sponono' by Alan Paton, and 'Sikalo' by Gibson Kente. In 1974, 'The Warrior', a musical by Bertha Egnos and Gail Lakier, appeared for the first time. The band performing the music was billed as "Ipi 'N Tombia featuring Margaret Singana". The show was a massive South African hit and went on to achieve continued international success. It became simply known as 'Ipi Tombi' ("Young Girl"), and after 25 years is still as popular as ever. The stage show recently completed a US tour, there are currently four, different CD versions available, including the modernized soundtrack from the subsequent film.
But for many, 'Ipi Tombi' will always be strongly associated with three memorable songs, all sung by Margaret Singana - 'The Warrior', 'Mama Tembu's Wedding' and the 'Ipi Tombi' theme. She also achieved unique crossover success with both her big pop hit, 'I Never Loved A Man (The Way That I Love You)', and some credible work in the SA rock arena.
Margaret has covered a number of classic South African rock tracks, including Freedoms Children's 'Tribal Fence' written by Ramsay MacKay, Julian Laxton's 'Johannesburg' and Hawk's 'Orang Outang'.
Margaret sang guest vocals on Rabbitt's version of 'Tribal Fence' from the 'Croak and Grunt In The Night' album. Trevor Rabin (from Rabbitt) was also very involved in her 1976 'Where Is The Love?' album playing guitar, keyboards, bass and co-producing with Patrick van Blerk and Allan Goldberg.
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