Bosman died on Tuesday following a short illness, her family announced.
“After a short illness, she transcended peacefully at her home, surrounded by family," the family said in a statement. "Gloria had devoted her life, not just to her family, but to her music, she was loved and adored by many here in South Africa and beyond its borders.”The Soweto-born Bosman was praised for her soothing, silky vocals and versatility in crossing over to various music genres.
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party paid tribute to Bosman, saying the country's music industry will be poorer without her.
“Gloria Bosman belongs to a generation of female musical greats who refused to submit to patriarchal stereotypes in a male-dominated industry. She was a fiery and militant revolutionary in the creative sector,” the ANC said in a statement.
South African jazz legend Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse was among the first to express sadness at her passing, tweeting that he was “sad, gutted and shattered.”
Bosman started singing in church and theaters, but a scholarship to study opera at the then-Pretoria Technikon (now Tshwane University of Technology) was crucial in her development as an artist.She returned to perform at the educational institution later in her career.