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Saado Ali Warsame was shot dead in the Hodan district on Wednesday by gunmen who pulled up near her car in another vehicle, said Mohamed Hussein, a police captain.
"I saw the gunmen driving in a car following the MP, then they opened fire ... she died instantly and the gunmen then escaped," Abdukadir Ali, a witness, told the AFP news agency.
The armed group al-Shabab said it carried out the attack on Warsame, according to the AP news agency.
She was the fourth politician killed this year and the second MP killed in a drive-by attack since the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
On July 3, gunmen also killed Mohamed Mohamud Heyd as he was leaving his hotel in Mogadishu.
Warsame was famous for her songs in the 1970s, when she sang about political and social justice in opposition to the hardline rule of Siad Barre before he was toppled in 1991. That event triggered the all-out civil war in Somalia that still drags on today.
Mohamed Ali, a Somali MP who knew Warsame, described her as "courageous and patriotic'' saying she was the victim of "terrorists who want to cripple the country".
Shabab fighters fled fixed positions in Mogadishu three years ago and have since lost most large towns to a 22,000-strong UN-backed African Union force, fighting alongside government soldiers.
But they still hold sway in areas of the rural hinterland, from which they regularly launch attacks.
President condole
HE The President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, sends his condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of MP Saado Ali Warsame, a Somali Member of Parliament killed in Mogadishu today.
“Our prayers are with her. I send my deepest condolences to the Honourable Saado Ali Warsame's family, friends, Members of Parliaments and Somali people. We all pray that Allah grants her a place in Paradise," the President said.
The President stated that extremists will not deter efforts to bring peace and stability in Somalia. The President appealed to the public to work with security institutions in order to bring those behind the killing of Saado Ali Warsame to justice.
Nickolas Kay
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia (SRSG), Nicholas Kay, condemned the assassination of Saado Ali Warsame, a female Member of the Somali Federal Parliament, and expressed his deep concern about the continued attacks targeting parliamentarians in the capital.
Ms Warsame and her driver were shot and killed as they travelled in a vehicle in Mogadishu today. In addition to being a parliamentarian, Ms Warsame was a well known singer whose loss will be felt across Somalia.
“I condemn the assassination of Saado Ali Warsame in the strongest terms possible. The role of Somali women in public life must be protected and respected by all,” SRSG Kay said.
“I call on the authorities to make every effort to bring the perpetrators to justice swiftly. We remain resolute in our support for the Somali people and their representatives as they work to realise their hope for a peaceful and stable future,” he added.
SRSG Kay offers his sincere condolences to the family and friends of Ms Warsame and her driver, as well as to the Federal Parliament of Somalia.