Bizunesh Bekele

Bizunesh Bekele[2] (Amharic: ብዙነሽ በቀለ; 1936 – 25 June 1990) was an Ethiopian soul singer who was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. She was referred to as Aretha Franklin of Ethiopia due to similitude of musical style.

This article is about the singer. For the athlete, see Bezunesh Bekele.
This article is about a person whose name includes a patronymic. The article properly refers to the person by her given name, Bizunesh, and not as Bekele.
Bizunesh Bekele
ብዙነሽ በቀለ
Born1936 (1936)
Died25 June 1990(1990-06-25) (aged 53–54)
Years active1960s–1990
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
LabelsKaifa Records[1]
Associated acts

Background

She was born in 1936. Bizunesh has been called the "Aretha Franklin of Ethiopia"[3] and the "First Lady of Addis".[4] Bizunesh recorded popular songs in the 1970s such as "Chenk Tibeb" and "Ayasayegn chinkun". She sang in the Amharic language.[5] She sometimes performed with the Gurage singer Mahmoud Ahmed in Amharic. They were both known for appearing with the Imperial Body Guard Band or the Dahlak Banb.

She is featured on the recording Ethiopian Groove - The Golden Seventies (1994, Buda Musique).

References
  1. "Bizunesh Bekele – Tigel New (Ethiopia, 1977, Kaifa Records)".
  2. Bezunesh Bekele at AllMusic
  3. Getahun, Solomon Addis; Kassu, Wudu Tafete (2014). Culture and customs of Ethiopia. Santa Barbara,California: Greenwood. p. 176.
  4. Philip Briggs (22 October 2015). Ethiopia. Bradt Travel Guides. pp. 76–. ISBN 978-1-84162-922-3.
  5. https://www.loc.gov/audio/?all=true&fa=subject:popular+music%7Clocation:ethiopia%7Ccontributor:bekele,+bzunesh
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