Hirut Bekele

A voice of the golden age

Hirut Bekele (ሂሩት በቀለ) was born on October 8, 1942 in Addis Ababa, per Wikipedia and Ethiopian Gospel Music; Fana gives 1943. She went to the Adventist Mission school in Kebena. In 1958, at about 16, she was picked on the spot at a vocal competition of the Army Force Orchestra, and her first song, "Ye-Hare Shererit" (1958), was a hit; she later joined the Police Orchestra, where she sang for about 35 years in its music and theater department. Wikipedia lists Dahlak, Ibex and Roha among the bands she sang with, and Ethiopian Gospel Music names Shebele, Walias, Dahlak and Roha; the lists differ. She recorded over 200 songs, her first record, a 45 rpm, in 1961 and a second in 1962, and from 1977 to 1994 made 14 cassette albums of ten songs each.

Music In Africa calls her one of the most popular, beloved and famous Ethiopian singers of the seventies, with arrangements featuring krar and organ, and BBE called her delivery bluesy and melancholic. She sang with Alemayehu Eshete on the single "Temelese" / "Teye Gidyeleshime" (1972 per a search listing), included on BBE's compilation Taitu, curated by Ernesto Chahoud, which also has "Ewnetegna Feker" and "Almokerkum Nebere". Collaborators named include Mesfin Haile, Tadele Bekele, Melkamu Tebeje, Mahmoud Ahmed and Kassahun Germamo. Awesome Tapes from Africa posted an 80s cassette in November 2012, describing a haunted organ and rough recording. NTS lists a Buda Musique track played in 2015.

In 1994 she retired from secular music after 35 years with the Police Orchestra and turned to gospel, writing the words and melodies of her own songs and traveling to sing across Ethiopia and abroad for more than 28 years. Fana says her song "Ethiopia" is described as a national anthem still sung by children and adults, and that she paved the way for many female singers. She died in Addis Ababa on May 12, 2023, aged 80 per Wikipedia and Fidel Post, 81 per Fana, and the funeral on May 15 was led by the Police Marching Band, with burial at Petros-wo-Paulous church.