Louise Griffin
Friday 21 Jan 2022 6:41 am
Elza Soares died at her home in Rio (Picture: Getty Images)
Her career spanned six decades.
Brazilian samba legend Elza Soares has died at the age of 93.
A statement posted to her social media paid tribute to the late star, announcing that she had died of natural causes.
It read: ‘It is with great sadness that we inform you of the death of singer and songwriter Elza Soares, aged 91, at 3:45 pm today at her home in Rio de Janeiro, due to natural causes.
‘Music icon, Elza sang, protested and moved the world until the end. Pedro Loureiro, family and Elza Team.’
It went on to say that there will be a memorial for the star at Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro on Friday, which will be open to the public from 10am to 2pm.
Known as the queen of Brazilian samba, Soares’ career spanned six decades and she released 30 albums, with each one bringing awareness to important causes.
Soares was raised in Rio de Janeiro but was forced to marry at the age of 12 and became a mother shortly afterwards.
By the age of 21, she was a widow raising five children on her own. While she sang when she could, she also worked in a soap factory.
Her career spanned six decades (Picture: AP)
In the late 1950s, she went on to tour with Mercedes Batista, and released her first single, Se Acaso Você Chegasse, which became popular.
By the time she was in her early 30s, she’d become a staple of the nightclub samba scene and had a string of number one hits in Brazil.
In 2002, Soares was nominated at the Grammys with her album Do Cóccix Até O Pescoço and in 2015, her album A Mulher do Fim do Mundo was nominated at the Latin Grammys.
Then, in 2016, she performed at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Rio.
In her personal life, Soares endured a lot of tragedy.
Continue reading: Iconic Brazilian singer Elza Soares dies aged 93
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