Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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AWEKE, Aster

(b '59, Gondar, Ethiopia) Singer. Raised in Addis Ababa on trad. Ethiopian songs, infl. by Aretha Franklin and moved to the USA '80s. Her song 'Ager Alegn' (I Have A Home Too') became almost a second Ethiopian national anthem; albums Aster and Kabu (Sterns/Triple Earth UK, Sony USA) brought her an international audience. Based in NYC and writing in English, she planned a stadium gig in Ethiopia for early '97.