Lily Banda

Lily Banda (born 16 August 1990) is a Malawian singer and actress.

Lily Banda
Born (1990-08-16) August 16, 1990
NationalityMalawian
Other namesAlex
OccupationSinger, actress
Years active2014-present

Biography

Banda developed a love of music from the age of four. By age six, she began performing on stage at school. Banda began her professional career in 2010, working as a radio and television personality and event host.[1] She began performing under the name Alex as a singer and poet.[2] Banda released her debut album, "Black Kiss" in January 2014. In 2015, she changed her stage name to Lily, her birth name. Banda came out with an EP entitled Odd Hours in May 2015.[3] She received a youth hero award by the African Union in 2015, and in 2018 she was nominated in the Best Female Artist Southern Africa and the Most Promising Artist in Africa categories at Afrima.[4]

She came out with the single "Bad at Love" in 2019. It was remixed and a Swahili version was released in January 2020. Banda worked with Alfred Ochieng and Aliza Were, who translated the song and taught her the language.[5] Banda hosted an event called Word Spoken at the National Library Service in Lilongwe in November 2019.[6]

In 2019, Banda appeared in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, based on the memoir by William Kamkwamba. She played Annie Kamkwamba, who wanted to go to school but could not because her family did not emphasize education. She also starred as Aicha Konate in the second season of the TV series Deep State in 2019.[5] Her character is a Malian interpreter who is ambushed and supposedly killed.[7]

Banda considers herself an activist for women's rights. She lives in Lilongwe.[3]

Filmography

References
  1. "Malawian Influencers – Lily Banda". Visit Malawi. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  2. "TEDxLilongwe". TEDx. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  3. "From Alex to Lily: Singer explains name change". MBC. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  4. "Lily B". Music in Africa. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  5. "Lily Banda Pushing the African Dream". Stories Now. 20 January 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  6. Banda, Sam (15 November 2019). "Lily Banda comes with Words Spoken". Times 360 Malawi. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  7. Mtawali, Desire Elizabeth. "Malawi's Lilly Banda finds new Acting Role". Smash MW. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.