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Sadly she died at the age of 86 on the 15th of January,her cause of death is as a result of her losing the battle against pancreatic cancer.
Her daughter Lorraine,had earlier this week revealed on her personal Facebook page that her mother was fighting pancreatic cancer.
The jazz singer who was Nelson Mandela's favourite singer,began her career singing in
local churches and formed her own female quartet called The Quad Sisters.
Then in her teens,she was hit by a tragedy which threatened to derail her career after her face was seriously disfigured following an incident where she was attacked with an acid bomb.
As a result, she was forced to spend a year in hospital and she struggled to regain her self-confidence to perform in front of people.
After recovering from the tragedy,she went on to become a success and sing with greats such as Miriam Makeba, Dolly Rathebe, Dorothy Masuka and Sopie Mgcina. In the 1960s she starred in the internationally acclaimed musical, King Kong, by composer Todd Matshikiza.
Apartheid forced her to seek her fortune abroad as the terrible regime was closing down all opportunities for black artists. Here she performed with many international stars, among them Roberta Flack and Patti Labelle, and steadily gained a reputation as a jazz singer.
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All the while, she stayed close to her roots and still often used e'Kasi lingo, the colloquial dialect that was spoken in her hometown.
She has received many honours, most recently the presidential Order of the Baobab in Gold from president Jacob Zuma.
Thandi Klaasen death continues the terrible trend of celebrities who passed away towards the end of last year and for most part of 2016.Let's hope 2017 does not follow the same path.She will be greatly missed,RIP.