Elza Soares

Elza Soares was a Brazilian singer and composer who rose to fame as one of the most popular and influential samba singers. She was born in a favela in Rio de Janeiro to a family of musicians and started singing and playing the piano at a young age. She was forced to marry by her father when she was 12 and had her first child at 13. She lost her second child to hunger and became a widow at 21. She pursued her dream of becoming a singer and participated in a vocal contest presented by Ary Barroso at Rádio Tupi. She impressed Barroso and the audience with her powerful voice and scat singing. She recorded her first single, Se Acaso Você Chegasse, in 1959 and became a successful recording artist. She performed with some of Brazil's most renowned artists, such as Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, and Jorge Ben Jor. She also had a turbulent relationship with football player Garrincha, who was married when they met. She was vilified by Brazilian society and received death threats. She and Garrincha had to flee to Italy in 1970 after their house was machine-gunned by the military dictatorship. She lost her mother, Garrincha, and two sons in a span of four years. She overcame her tragedies and continued to reinvent herself and her music. She experimented with different genres, such as bossa nova, MPB, rock, funk, and electronic music. She released more than 30 albums and participated in several soundtracks for movies and TV shows. She performed in prestigious venues around the world, such as the Olympia, the Madison Square Garden, and the London Palladium. She was a member of the Arts, Sciences and Literature French Academy and received the silver medal in 2003. She was named Singer of the Millennium by BBC Radio in 1999, along with Tina Turner. She moved to Geneva in 2010 and continued to work on her music projects until her death in 2022. She was 91 years old and left behind a legacy of music and joy.