Lianie May was born Lianie Oosthuizen on 2 nd August 1976, Vereeniging, South Africa. She was raised on a farm close to the town of Oranjeville in the Free State – a rural childhood that formed her perception of the world and inspired most of her music in future. In 1994 she enrolled at Afrikaans Hoerskool Sasolburg and her life took her to a path of music.
This is what made her break in the mid-2000s: one day after she attended a concert of a band in Oranjeville, she auditioned backstage. Her voice and appeal attracted the producers and she was signed to a record label -preparing her debut album.
Her first album, called Vergeet My Nie(“Forget Me Not), was published in 2007. It was the album that got her acquainted with the Afrikaans music scene with an entrenchment on her hearty, sincere delivery of words and story that is based on the rural life, love, heartbreak, and many elements that one can connect to.
Through the years Lianie added some albums to her catalog. She adopted a country-pop flavor that is a mixture of plain songs, emotionally based lyrics and a sound that is appealing to both the town, farms and urban centres. A sense of nostalgia, longing, love, everyday joys such music often evokes her music is often labeled as people music which appeals to all feelings and South African heritage.
Her songs gained popularity especially some which made her have a permanent footing in country/pop genre. Some of her hits, like “Jy Soen My Nie Meer Nie” contributed to her forming her initial career; others, like “Bietjie Benoni,” “Dors,” or duets like Bonnie and Clyde demonstrate that she could perform as heartbroken and yearning, as well as fun-loving and danceable.
Her 2017 album Iemand Om Lief Te He also revealed the development and the diversity: the rustic country-pop origins were mixed with more contemporary productions and it showed her that she could change with the changing musical preferences but also remain herself.
Other than studio work, Lianie May gained a reputation as a live performer. She has been performing at concerts, festivals, and shows in South Africa, and has been able to connect to her fans because of her authenticity, simple upbringing and personal stories that people can relate to. She is sincere and particularly warm whether she plays upbeat songs or heartfelt ballads that are enjoyable to various listeners.
Her offstage life is grounded in the same manner. She married in 2017 after long engagement and still retains her rural connections – part-time farming near Oranjeville and balancing it with her music career. Her dual life brings credibility and sincerity as she sings some of the stories she is living.
Lianie May has not been happy with being confined to a single musical box. Although she is unquestionably an afrikaans country-pop artist, she has demonstrated readiness to explore styles, tempos and themes – incorporating in her repertoire nostalgic ballads, love songs, fast-paced country pop and contemporary elements. This flexibility is one of the reasons why she has stayed around even after more than twenty years.
Her music is not the only platform she uses: in 2019 she held a benefit concert on behalf of a child in need of medical assistance, which demonstrates that she appreciates community, compassion, and social responsibility as one of the aspects of her public life.
Lianie May is unique in the South African music culture due to her combination of authenticity, emotional sincerity, country-hearted narrations, and diversity. She never posed as one whom she is not, her songs are not bling bling pop hype, but merely a tale of love, loss, hope and home. That sincerity resonates.
Lianie May is still a household name in the Afrikaans country/pop genre as of 2025. Her discography includes several albums, a myriad of intergenerational favorite songs, and a career that fits together, incorporating music, personal life and values, and attachment to roots, is the embodiment of how consistency, sense of location, and roots-basedness can create a legacy of art.
Her career, starting at a farm close to Oranjeville, to national recognition, is evidence that the honesty-based music can cross the borders. No matter where the listeners lived, in towns, farms, or at distant inaccessible spots in South Africa, her songs bring a sense of comfort, nostalgia and basic emotions that they can experience.
Music has the ability to shift trends quickly, but the story of Lianie May helps inspire us to remember that there is always something true to itself and that sometimes some of the loudest music comes in whispering heart to heart.