Rebecca Malope

Rebecca Malope, born Batsogile Lovederia Malope in Lekazi outside Mbombela in 1968, sang hymns in church as a child and reached Johannesburg as a teenager alongside her sister Cynthia, where producer Sizwe Zakho took her on. Victory in the 1987 Shell Road to Fame competition launched her recording career, and when the gospel tracks on her early records outsold the pop, she followed them — a compact, powerhouse voice that earned her the title Queen of Gospel. Rebecca Sings Gospel (1992) passed a million copies; Shwele Baba (1996) became the fastest-selling South African album of its time, at 100,000 units in three weeks. Across 36 albums she has sold at least 10 million records, won Best Contemporary Gospel Album at the first South African Music Awards in 1995, hosted television's It's Gospel Time from 2004 to 2019, and in 2021 received the Order of Ikhamanga from President Cyril Ramaphosa.