Death of singer Gal Costa, legend of Brazilian music
Gal Costa, in 2003 in New York.
Getty Images via AFP - SCOTT GRIES
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The famous Brazilian singer Gal Costa died on Wednesday, November 9, at the age of 77.
She was one of the great representatives of tropicalism, at the end of the 1960s, with her interpretations of "Baby", "Chuva de prata" or even "Divino maravilhoso".
She leaves behind about thirty recorded discs.
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"
Gal Costa was one of the greatest singers in the world, one of the main artists who carried the name and the sound of Brazil all over the world (...) Our country is losing one of its great voices
", writes Lula da Silva .
Gal Costa faith in the maiores cantoras do mundo, in our principal artistas a levar o nome e os sons do Brasil para todo o planeta.
Seu talento, técnica e ousadia enriqueceu e renovou nossa cultura, embalou e marcou a vida de milhões de brasileiros.
📸 @ricardostuckert pic.twitter.com/4jU2SBcHuq
— Lula (@LulaOficial) November 9, 2022
"
I feel immensely sad to see this great star leave us at this precise moment when we find hope for better days
," adds the country's former president, Dilma Rousseff.
A mort de Gal Costa é um shocks para todos nós.
O Brasil perde hoje uma das maiores cantoras da nossa história.
(segue o fio) #GalCosta pic.twitter.com/q822a9peca
— Dilma Rousseff (@dilmabr) November 9, 2022
Gal Costa was indeed a legend of Brazilian music, a great figure of tropicalism.
If the causes of his death have not been specified, the artist had to cancel a concert in São Paulo last weekend.
Originally from Salvador de Bahia, where she was born on September 26, 1945 under the name of Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos, Gal Costa was self-taught, who never took any singing lessons.
It was during her adolescence in the Nordeste that she met Caetano Veloso, her sister Maria Bethânia and Gilberto Gil, three Bahians whom she would follow in Rio de Janeiro during the 1960s.
His first record, in duet with Caetano Veloso, was released in 1967:
Domingo
.
The following year, she took part in the collective album
Tropicalia ou Panis et Circensis
, a revolution for the national music scene.
Her greatest influence, she said, was
João Gilberto, the father of bossa nova
, who died in 2019. But Gal Costa will remain attached to other big names: Tom Jobim, Chico Buarque, Milton Nascimento...
In 1969, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, who would later be a minister, went into exile in London after being arrested by the military regime.
She remains, claiming to have never been questioned during the dictatorship.
Muito sad e impactado com a mort de minha irmã Gaúcha @GalCosta
— Gilberto Gil (@gilbertogil) November 9, 2022
Later in her career, the Brazilian singer will change register, from the interpretation of great carnival samba classics to rock, soul, disco.
In 2011, she won a Latin Grammy.
Gal Costa was a committed personality, a feminist.
More discreet politically than some of her friends, she had nonetheless heavily criticized the cultural record of President Jair Bolsonaro.
Discreet about his private life, Gal Costa had published a photo of his son Gabriel in 2021, for the latter's 16th birthday.
Unable to be pregnant, she adopted him in 2007, at over 60 years old.
With agencies
►On RFI in Portuguese: Gal Costa morre aos 77 anos: “Uma cantora genial”, diz crítica francesa
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