Lira (singer)

Life and career

Lerato Moipone Molapo was born on 14 March 1979 in Daveyton, Johannesburg to Buyi Radebe and Khanyapa Molapo Sr. Growing up under apartheid, she listened to Miriam Makeba, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone, who later inspired her songwriting. She began performing live at age 16, singing covers and original songs. As an undergraduate she studied Accounting and traded her skills for recording time, producing her first demo at 18. After graduating she worked in accounting for two years, then resigned and devised a five-year plan for a music career.

In 2000, musician and producer Arthur Mafokate discovered her and signed her to his label 999 Music, which released her debut album All My Love in 2003. The album earned accolades at the Metro FM Awards, SAMAs and Channel O Reel Music Awards, and its title track knocked Beyoncé's single 'Dangerously in Love' off the charts. She left 999 Music the following year and worked with keyboardist Victor Mngomezulu, bassist Tshepo Sekele and producer Robin Kohl.

She then signed to Sony Music Africa and released her first major label album Feel Good. The title track became the most played local song on radio, earned SAMA nominations, and was the first music video from a South African artist featured on VH-1. The album sold triple-platinum, and the single won a SAMA in 2008 for most downloaded song. In July 2007 the album was released in Italy, where its title track received massive airplay.

In 2008 she released the 13-track LP Soul in Mind, which set a SAMA record for most awards won in a single year (4) by one artist and was certified triple-platinum. That year Glamour Magazine South Africa named her 'Woman of the Year.'

Personal life

In 2009, Lira married music manager Robin Kohl, but they separated in 2019 after nine years. While in Germany in April 2022, she had a stroke that affected her speech.

She received treatment back in South Africa and paused her music career. Her first public event after the stroke was on 1 September 2022, when she appeared at the launch of Tamara Dey's single Disco Therapy. Lira later shared that the stroke caused her to develop Aphasia.