In 1964, British singer
Dusty Springfield was booked to perform several shows in South Africa but once Springfield found that black and white audiences watch her shows in segregated venues, Springfield boycotted the shows, becoming one of the first Western pop musicians and celebrities to do so; she was deported as a result. Many artists declared not to perform in South Africa or have their works shown there because of the government's rigid adherence to apartheid with some exceptions, including singers such as
Frank Sinatra,
Ray Charles,
Tina Turner,
the O'Jays,
the Jacksons,
Stephanie Mills and
Millie Jackson. In 1975, American soul-jazz singer and poet
Gil Scott-Heron and frequent collaborator,
Brian Jackson recorded the protest song, "
Johannesburg". The song became popular among black audiences upon its release in November of the year, sending it to the top 30 of the
Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart. In 1980, British rock singer
Peter Gabriel recorded the song "
Biko" in tribute to South African civil rights activist
Steve Biko. In 1983, singer
Harry Belafonte and tennis player
Arthur Ashe founded Artists and Athletes Against Apartheid to lobby for sanctions and embargoes against the South African government. The group consisted of more than sixty U.S. artists and athletes, including
Tony Bennett,
Bill Cosby, and
Muhammad Ali, who refused to perform in South Africa until the apartheid was dismantled. Any artist or celebrity who had performed at South African venues before the boycott or afterwards were either lambasted or
blacklisted. In 1985,
Steven Van Zandt and
Arthur Baker also founded the protest group
Artists United Against Apartheid and produced the record
Sun City to voice concerns for apartheid and the imprisonment of
Nelson Mandela. Proceeds from the album were donated to The Africa Fund to support humanitarian efforts of anti-apartheid groups. Houston also supported the anti-apartheid movement during this era and joined the boycott refusing both modeling opportunities and music engagements in the country, despite becoming one of the country's most popular artists with her 1987 hit, "
I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", topping the charts there. On June 11, 1988, during her
Moment of Truth World Tour, Houston interrupted the tour to take part in the
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert to support then-imprisoned South African
civil rights activist
Nelson Mandela, which took place at London's
Wembley Stadium and was broadcast worldwide, watched by over 600 million viewers. The event raised $1 million and was said to have raised further awareness of the issue of apartheid and led to growing demands to free imprisoned South African activists, including Mandela. Twenty months after the concert, on February 11, 1990, Mandela was paroled after spending 27 years in prison. In March 1994,
apartheid was abolished in the country, which was subsequently followed by Mandela winning the
South African presidential election, making Mandela the first black President of the country. In September 1994, during Houston's
Radio City Music Hall residency in the middle of her
tour to support her hit soundtrack to The Bodyguard, it was announced that Houston would headline three shows in South Africa that November, which made her the first artist to headline a solo concert tour there following the end of apartheid. On October 4, 1994, Houston gave a performance at the
White House during a state dinner for Mandela at the Rose Garden, which aired on the political channel
C-SPAN. ==Performance and content==