Elis Regina

Elis Regina was a Brazilian singer who was one of the pioneers of the bossa nova style, a fusion of samba and jazz. She is also the mother of the singers Maria Rita and Pedro Mariano. She became nationally renowned in 1965 after singing "Arrastão" (composed by Edu Lobo and Vinícius de Moraes) in the first edition of TV Excelsior festival song contest and soon joined O Fino da Bossa, a television program on TV Record. She was noted for her vocalization as well as for her interpretation and performances in shows. Her recordings include "Como Nossos Pais" (Belchior), "Upa Neguinho" (E. Lobo and Gianfrancesco Guarnieri), "Madalena" (Ivan Lins), "Casa no Campo" (Zé Rodrix and Tavito), "Águas de março" (Tom Jobim), "Atrás da Porta" (Chico Buarque and Francis Hime), "O Bêbado e a Equilibrista" (Aldir Blanc and João Bosco), "Conversando no Bar" (Milton Nascimento). Her untimely death, at the age of 36, shocked Brazil. Elis Regina was born in Porto Alegre, where she began her career as a singer at an early age on the children's radio show Clube de Guri. In her early teens she signed a record contract and a couple years later traveled to Rio de Janeiro, where she recorded her first album. ² She won her first festival song contest in 1965 singing "Arrastão" ("Pull the Trawling Net") by Edu Lobo and Vinícius de Moraes, which made her the biggest selling Brazilian recording artist since Carmen Miranda. Her second album, Dois na Bossa with Jair Rodrigues, set a national sales record and became the first Brazilian album to sell over one million copies. "Arrastão" increased her popularity because the festival was broadcast via TV and radio. The record represented the beginning of música popular brasileira (Brazilian popular music) and contrasted with bossa nova. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she helped popularize tropicalismo with Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, and Caetano Veloso. In 1970 she had her first son, João Marcelo Bôscoli with first husband Ronaldo Bôscoli. Later on she had two more children, Pedro Camargo Mariano and Maria Rita Camargo Mariano, with musician Cesar Camargo Mariano. Regina was nicknamed "hurricane" and "little pepper". She moved to Rio around the time Brazil was ruled by a military group. Although her popularity protected her from reprisal when she criticized the regime while on tour in Europe, she was threatened with imprisonment unless she sang the Brazilian national anthem at an event honoring the anniversary of the coup. She disliked Tropicália but counted Tropicália's Rita Lee as a dear friend. She tolerated Antonio Carlos Jobim, calling him "that sacred cow of our music". In fact, the feeling was mutual until they recorded together in Los Angeles to create Brazil's most beloved song, 'Águas de Março' (The Waters of March). 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of this famous duet. ² We might have been limited to these snippets of her life, if it hadn't been for an unusual set of circumstances. ²