Blog compiled and written by Saadia Pirzada
Beldina Odenyo Onassis, also known as Heir of the Cursed, was a Kenyan-Scottish musician, singer, poet and writer. She was born in Kenya on 30 August 1990, moving to Scotland with her family when she was a child. She got her first guitar when she was eight years old. Talking about her guitar, she said ‘It’s the same guitar I play now, 22 years later. I love the tone of it, the shape of it. It’s never let me down. It’s very heavy, but it feels like my armour.’
Beldina was a hugely gifted singer, musician, and writer. She was named one of Scotland’s 30 most inspiring women under 30 in 2017, when she was praised for her work about the African diaspora, her experiences of living in Scotland as a young black woman and mental health.
Beldina performed at the Library’s 25th birthday Silver Wear Herland in 2016, and ran a brilliant Feminist Protest Song Writing Session at the Library’s Edinburgh International Book Festival Take Over Tent in 2018.
She worked regularly with the Mental Health Foundation, including commissions to write a song, A Way From Rage, for the Mental Health Foundation’s 70th anniversary in 2019, and a poem for the Hope Sculpture project.
Beldina made her mark as an artist in both the music world and the theatre world. She performed in two acclaimed Edinburgh festival shows, Move and Lament for Sheku Bayoh. She created a new piece of work for the inaugural Push the Boat Out poetry festival, and performed at the Scottish Album of the Year Awards. She was to have played a headline show at 2022’s Celtic Connections, recording a live album in the process.
Belinda was part of Glasgow-based all-female song-writing collective, Hen Hoose. In 2024, Hen Hoose launched the Beldina Odenyo Bursary, created in her honour, to provide support and mentorship for an unrecorded artist, including studio sessions to record a debut track and help to plan its release.
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