Sarah Kiarie, better known by her stage name Sarah K, is a renowned Kenyan gospel musician whose deep and powerful voice has earned her national and international recognition.
She has also won numerous awards for her soul-stirring music, such as the Grove Award for the female artist of the Year in 2014.
This is her journey, as told by WoK
Early Life
Although many people wrongly believe that Sarah was born in Kiambu, she corrected this assumption in a past interview and disclosed that she was actually born in Buruburu.
However, the exact date of her birth is unclear.
During her childhood, Sarah was raised by domestic househelps, as her parents were too busy.
The househelps made hurtful comments about her appearance, leading to a lowered self-esteem during her formative years.
“They would often tell me that I was the ugliest among my siblings, probably because of my stained teeth. These comments lowered my self-esteem and made me feel bad about myself,” Sarah revealed in a past interview.
Education
Sarah K spent the first three years of her primary school education at Baba Ndogo Primary School. The family then moved to Kiambu, where she attended Kifufuti Primary School for two years.
At that time, Sarah’s mother was a tailor while her father was a well-known businessman who owned a car yard.
The family then moved to Loitoktok, a town between the border of Kenya and Tanzania. There, Sarah completed her primary school education.
Her father opened up a shop in Loitoktok and business became so good that Sarah and her siblings would be woken up early in the morning to count bundles of money before going to school.
Parents Divorce
Her father’s thriving business in Loitoktok provided prosperity for a while, but her life took a drastic turn when her parents divorced while she was in form three at St Valentine High School in Machakos.
Her mother left the family in Loitoktok and moved to Muranga, and Sarah had to drop out of school to take care of her younger siblings.
They survived by selling old scrap metal from her father’s car yard until they saved enough money to join their mother in Kiambu.
There, the family lived in rentals while Sarah, her mother, and the older siblings engaged in menial jobs for sustenance.
After a while, a friend connected her to househelp work in Dandora, where she was paid ksh 400 per month.
Husband and Marriage
Throughout these difficult times, Sarah K found solace in her faith and became a devoted churchgoer.
It was in church that she discovered her musical talent and became the praise and worship leader at an Anglican church in Dandora.
Her love for music and gospel ministry grew, and she started attending missions and crusades, preaching and ministering the gospel.
During one of these missions, she met her future husband, Samuel Mwangi. He was attending mission school at the time and would later be ordained as a gospel minister.
The couple married in 1992. According to Sarah, the budget for the wedding did not exceed sh 20 000, a testament to their dire economic situation at the time.
Sarah’s husband was later assigned to minister in the Korogocho slums, and the family had to move there.
In Korogocho, Sarah engaged in various hustles to support her family while pursuing her music career.
Gradually, her dedication to music and her unique alto voice caught the attention of others in the industry.
She started as a backup singer and eventually recorded some of her songs.
The popularity of her music grew, and her songs were even played on KBC radio, unbeknownst to many that she was the artist behind them.
In 1998, Sarah K and her family traveled to South Africa, where her husband had been invited to pursue theological studies.
After their return to Kenya, she sang her first Swahili song.
Although she was now a married woman and many would have expected her to change her surname to Mwangi, she decided to stick with the name Sarah Kiarie as it had already become a household name in Githurai and Dandora, where people knew her songs.
She later shortened her name to Sarah K due to tribal castigations.
“In the late 90s and early 2000s, tribalism in Kenya was high. People would deny me performances due to my ethnic background. So I decided to shorten my name to Sarah K so that people would not know my tribe,” she revealed in an interview.
Throughout her career, She has received numerous calls from curious fans enquiring about the meaning of the ‘K’ in her name.
Breakthrough
Her breakthrough occurred when she performed during an event hosted by vernacular radio Kameme FM.
She performed so passionately and made such a great impression on the gathered guests that her songs became regular playlists on many radio stations since then.
Apart from her music, Sarah K is also a dedicated gospel minister. In 2021, she received a doctorate degree from the International School of Theology and Leadership.
Her daughter’s graduation from Middlesex University in 2016 and her siblings’ pastoral roles are a testament to the influence of faith and perseverance in her family.
The ‘Hakuna silaha’ hitmaker is over 50 years old and attributes her youthful look to the grace of God.
