She was voted "Brazilian singer of the millennium" by the BBC in 1999. The composer and singer Elza Soares died Thursday, "of natural causes", at her home in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), announced her press service.
She was 91 years old.
With more than thirty records to her credit released during a sixty-year career, the black diva with her characteristic hoarse timbre was considered one of the greatest voices in Brazilian song.
"Icon of Brazilian music, considered one of the greatest artists in the world, (…) [she] had an extraordinary, intense life, which moved the world with her voice, her strength and her determination", adds the communicated.
A symbol of courage
Marked by many personal dramas, Elza Gomes da Conceição Soares had become a symbol of resistance and courage at the end of her life.
Daughter of a worker and a laundress, she was born on June 23, 1930 in a favela in Rio de Janeiro.
Her father had forced her to marry at 12, she became a mother the following year.
She had seven children by her first husband, two of whom died prematurely.
Widowed at 21, she confessed to stealing food to feed her children.
“She sang until the end”
She then lived for seventeen years with the Brazilian footballer Mané Garrincha, with whom she had a son who died prematurely at the age of 9.
“Beloved and eternal Elza has gone to rest, but she will forever remain in music history and in our hearts and in the hearts of millions of fans around the world.
As Elza Soares wished, she sang until the end,” the statement concluded.
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