Personal life

Herholdt was born in the small Gauteng

Gauteng

Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...

 mining village of Nigel, Gauteng

Nigel

Nigel is an English masculine given name. The name is derived from the Latin Nigellus. This Latin word would seem to derive from the Latin niger, meaning "black"; however this is thought to be an example of an incorrect etymology created by French speaking clerics, who knew Latin as well, to...

 and at the age of three made her first singing performance at the local community recreation hall, singing the Afrikaans

Afrikaans

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

 lullaby Slaap, my Kindjie.

She attended the Afrikaans-medium Tienie Vorster Primary and John Vorster High School where she became Head Girl in both and followed her theatrical pursuits.

She later obtained a diploma cum laude in Teaching after three years at the Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

 (Goudstad) College of Education. She gave up teaching to pursue music after meeting her future husband, FC Hamman. The couple married in 1976 and started a family, their youngest son later developed an extreme hearing impairment in 1993. Herholdt subsequently decided to start a school for hearing and linguistically impaired Afrikaans children, this was housed in the pre-primary section of Bryanston

Bryanston, Gauteng

Bryanston is an upper class, wealthy residential suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. First named as an area in 1949, it was established in 1969 as a suburb of Sandton and provided with tarred roads and municipal services, but after municipal boundaries were revised following the end of Apartheid,...

 Primary School. This resulted in Herholdt returning to teach for a period of time.

In 1996, Herholdt was involved in a serious car accident. She and her husband subsequently divorced after 21 years of marriage.

In collaboration with Carel Cronjé, she released her autobiography in 2007 Sonja: Meisie van Nigel. Later that year she was injured in a robbery on the way home from Cronjé's Johannesburg home.

Career

Her breakthrough came when she did a spot on Gwynneth Ashley Robin's show and was soon asked to record Ek Verlang Na Jou. The single went gold in South Africa, selling over 25 000 copies.

Her subsequent albums and singles earned her similar critical and commercial success. She went on to win a total of eight Sarie

South African Music Awards

The South African Music Awards are an annual award ceremony, run by the Recording Industry of South Africa , where accolades are presented to members of South Africa's music industry. Winners receive a statuette is called a SAMA. The event was established in 1995...

 awards. In the 1970s and 1980s she was frequently the best-selling female artist in South Africa.

In 1979 she finally fulfilled her ambition to act by starring in Sing vir die Harlekyn, and winning a Rapport Oscar-Award as Best Female Newcomer.

She later enjoyed music success in Europe, she holds the distinction of being the first ever South African singer to be invited to perform in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 on their local Television. She recorded her song Oberammergau in Dutch and it became a hit in the Dutch charts. (Dutch title and chart?) She also performed in Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, pushing Oberammergau into fifth place in the Belgian charts.

In 1989 she performed at the Religious Broadcasting Corporation in Washington, coinciding with the release of her gospel album, The Warrior is a Child.

In 1991, she received an award from the Afrikaans Chamber of Commerce for her services to Afrikaans music.

In 1995, she signed an album contract with BMG Records, enjoying success with the title track of her new BMG compilation, Skipskop. Her 1998 album Ritsel in die Riebtos did not meet critical and commercial expectations. But she rebounded with the critically acclaimed 2000 album, Reconstructing Alice.

In 2002 she developed her own record company, Son Music and released Sonjare, a nostalgic retrospective of her original hits.

Discography

Herholdt has recorded several albums and singles since the 1970s;

Albums

• Ons eie Sonja Herholdt
• Sonja(1976)
• Sonja Herholdt (1977)
• On stage/In die kalklig (1978)
• Waterblommetjies (1978)
• n Lied vir Kersfees (1979)
• Harlekyn (Gold) (1979)
• Grootste Treffers (1980)
• Waarom Daarom (1981)
• Reflections (1982)
• Liefdeslig (1984)
• Lofsang - Sonja Herholdt en Jan de Wet (1985)
• Dis net vir jou (1987)
• Sonja Herholdt sing die Jeugbundel (1987)
• Sonja Herholdt sing die Jeugbundel no. 2 (1988)
• Tuiskoms (1988)
• Die Klokkespel 'Vrede (1989)
• The Warrior is a Child (1989)
• Ster Vanaand (1994)
• Skipskop (1995)
• More sal die son weer skyn (1996)
• Ritsel in die Riebtos (1998)
• Reconstructing Alice (2000)

Other recordings

• Sonjare
• 20 Gunsteling treffers
• Dis Kersfees
• n Ritsel innie Bos
• Sonja Herholdt Skipskop
• Die mense wat ek liefhet
• 'n Ster vanaand
• Gunsteling treffers (1992)
• Sê die engele moet na my kyk (1994)

Awards

Year	Category	Awards body	Result
1991	Erkentlikheidstoekening	Afrikaanse Sakekamer (Afrikaans Chamber of Commerce)	Winner
1980	Rapport Oscar, Beste Nuweling Aktrise (Best Female Newcomer)	Rapport	Winner
	Beste Langspeler van die Jaar (Best Album)	Sarie South African Music Awards The South African Music Awards are an annual award ceremony, run by the Recording Industry of South Africa , where accolades are presented to members of South Africa's music industry. Winners receive a statuette is called a SAMA. The event was established in 1995...	Winner
1976	Beste Langspeler van die jaar (Best Album)	Sarie South African Music Awards The South African Music Awards are an annual award ceremony, run by the Recording Industry of South Africa , where accolades are presented to members of South Africa's music industry. Winners receive a statuette is called a SAMA. The event was established in 1995...	Winner
1975-80	Beste Sangeres van die Jaar (Best Female Singer)	Sarie South African Music Awards The South African Music Awards are an annual award ceremony, run by the Recording Industry of South Africa , where accolades are presented to members of South Africa's music industry. Winners receive a statuette is called a SAMA. The event was established in 1995...	Winner
-	Junior Rapportryers-toekening	Junior Rapportryers	Winner
-	Rising Star Award	Papillon	Winner

External links

• Official website
• Sonja Herholdt at Who's Who Southern Africa