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As the daughter of diplomat Ambassador Henry Fahnbulleh Senior, she was expected to follow a more traditional path. But music was already in her heart.
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Before she became one of Africa’s most celebrated voices, Miatta Fahnbulleh was a seven-year-old girl with a dream.
She remembers the exact moment she realised music was her calling.
Speaking with Kafui Dey, the Liberian music legend traced her passion for singing back to a school performance in the 1950s.
During an end-of-term programme, she watched two girls perform a duet.
Their voices blended beautifully, leaving a lasting impression on her young mind.
“I just said to myself, ‘I want to be able to do that,’” she recalled.
From that moment, she knew she wanted to sing.
But in the society she grew up in, music was not considered a respectable career choice for girls from prominent families.
The expectation was clear.
“You become a doctor, engineer, lawyer,” she said.
As the daughter of diplomat Ambassador Henry Fahnbulleh Senior, she was expected to follow a more traditional path.
But music was already in her heart.
When she travelled to England as a child, seeing performers such as Helen Shapiro and Brenda Lee strengthened her belief that she could also become a performer.
“I thought, ‘I can do that,’” she said.
Her decision to pursue music was not always easy, but it eventually transformed her into one of Liberia’s greatest cultural ambassadors.
Decades later, the little girl who dreamed of singing has become a voice recognised across Africa and beyond.
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