Simphiwe Dana (born 23 January 1980) is a South African singer and songwriter who works mostly in her mother tongue, the Xhosa language.

Dana came from a religious background with her father being a preacher and as she grew up in the church, exposing her to music in both choral and gospel forms.

Her tertiary education pursued her interests in graphic design, and she successfully studied for her National Diploma in IT at the Wits Technikon, Johannesburg.

On its worldwide release the album gained success in the Billboard charts and she won an AVO Session Basel Award.

[5] In 2007, she was named the "Best Female Artist", with the song "The One Love Movement on Bantu Biko Street", at the 13th South African Music Awards.