WATCH LIVE: Gloria Bosman memorial service at Soweto theatre

Industry colleagues, family members, fans and friends are gathering at Soweto Theatre in Gauteng to remember and celebrate the late jazz artist Gloria Bosman during her memorial. 

Bosman’s memorial service details were released on Thursday afternoon. The service will start at 3pm, Friday afternoon (17 March). The award-winning actor passed away earlier this week after succumbing to a short illness.

Bosman has won two South African Music Awards (Samas) and received 11 nominations over the years including two Kora nominations. The Kora Awards are described as celebrating pan-African artists. 

The music industry has shared its memories of Bosman. Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse posted pictures of their joint performances on stage. 

SAMRO remembers Gloria Bosman

Southern African Music Rights Organisation (Samro) chairperson Nicholas Maweni said during an interview with Newzroom Africa, that the passing of Bosman had been a “great loss for the country“. 

The musician was named as one of the newest members of SAMRO’s board of directors. 

Maweni said Bosman was appointed because they were looking for “great women” to join the board’s organisation and it helped she was a composer.

“[She] was just so fortunate that one of our members, Gabby Le Roux, nominated Gloria Bosman to join the SAMRO board and she received overwhelming support at the December 2022 AGM. She was excited to join the board, everybody was just so excited.”

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Maweni said they held a board meeting on 2 March, he praised her knowledge about the issues being discussed, “she was very calm and certainly brought some humility”.

He explained she wasn’t emotional when discussing the matters on hand saying she was practical in her approach.

Maweni said he will remember Bosman as a person who wanted to help and serve other artists through SAMRO.

Bosman was discovered in a church and then went on to study on a scholarship at Technikon Pretoria, which is now known as the Tshwane University of Technology. 

Maweni mentioned that Bosman was an all-rounder, classically trained in opera, singing between jazz and gospel and had a contemporary background. 

Some of Bosman’s hits include Amaqwati and Remembering Thami Mayele (a song dedicated to the anti-apartheid activist).