South African artist Lieze Stassen was born on 2 May 1963, in Nababeep in the Namaqualand. She began her schooling in De Aar in the Karoo and completed matric in Worcester in the Western Cape in 1981. From an early age she took piano lessons, and after school enrolled at Babs Laker’s
Academy of Dramatic Art where she studied speech and drama extracurricular, and started working full time at Leserskring (National Press). During this period she married and her daughter and son were born. She also became involved with music theatre and started a close friendship with Ralph Rabie (Johannes Kerkorrel), who also worked for National Press.
Working full-time, playing mom, continuing her studies and launching a solo career eventually proved too much, and she decided to work on her music career on a full-time basis. When her marriage failed in 1989, she moved to Johannesburg where she did one-woman-shows, theatre productions, art festival, as well as solo shows and collaborations with big names like Laurika Rauch and Coenie de Villeirs. In 1994 she moved back to the Cape where she immediately landed on the set of “Woestynblom”, a television series filmed in Touwsrivier. She also became involved with the recording of the soundtrack, written by Neill Solomon, and it subsequently won a SAMA for the best soundtrack for a television series.
In January 1996 she started recording her first album, “Thula”, which won the SAMA award for best contemporary album in 1997. Another two mini albums, “XV Men / Bokkie” and “Sky”, were released in the next eighteen months. In 2000 she built her own sound studio and started writing and working on a new album, “AENGEL”, which she was released in 2002.
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In 2003 her life took a dramatic turn when her son, Alexander, then in matric, died in a motorcycle accident. She was devastated and swore she would never again sing or touch a musical instrument. She subsequently totally withdrew from the music industry, and society as a whole. She stayed in the Cape for another 5 years, then moved to Pretoria to live with friends and family, seeking peace. She then met Michael Kruger, who she married in 2010, and they moved to a horse farm where she finally found the peace she so desired. She still lives in Pretoria.
references:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpanI23E2Bk
