Fafá de Belém
Encyclopedia
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian singer considered one of the great female singers of MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira). She took her stage name from the city of her birth and in addition to a successful recording career that spans over three decades, it is fair to say that she has been one of the great sex symbols of Brazilian pop music. Her husky mezzo-soprano voice is known for its extensive emotional range, from tender ballads, to sensual love songs, to Portuguese fado
Fado
Fado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar, Rui Vieira Nery, states that "the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best...
s all the way to energetic samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
s and lambada
Lambada
Lambada is a dance from Pará, Brazil. The dance became internationally popular in the 1980s, especially in Latin America and Caribbean countries...
s.
Fafa made her public debut in her hometown in 1973. In the next year, she performed shows with Zé Rodrix
Zé Rodrix
Zé Rodrix was a Brazilian composer, instrumentalist, and singer. He was well known in his native country for performing with musical ensembles Sá, Rodrix e Guarabyra, Som Imaginário and Momento Quatro....
in Rio de Janeiro and with Sérgio Ricardo in Belém and Salvador da Bahia. In the same year, she hit the charts with "Filho da Bahia", then recorded for the soundtrack of the TV Globo soap opera "Gabriela"; she also released her first single that year. In 1976, Fafá de Belém recorded her first LP, "Tamba Tajá", which was praised by critics. In 1984, she became the muse of the movement in favor of free elections in Brazil, singing "Menestrel das Alagoas", written by Milton Nascimento
Milton Nascimento
-Biography:Nascimento's mother was the maid Maria Nascimento. As a baby, Milton Nascimento was adopted by his mother's former employers: the couple Josino Brito Campos, a banker employee, mathematics teacher and electronic technician; and Lília Silva Campos, a music teacher and choir singer...
and Fernando Brant, before a million people in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. In the same period, her highly popular interpretation of the Brazilian National Anthem at mass gatherings got her into trouble with the ruling military regime that was soon replaced by a popularly elected President.
In 1993, her album "Meu Fado" went platinum in Portugal, one of the countries where she is widely popular. Though not a composer herself, she has recorded memorable covers of Brazil's greatest composers, notably her all-Chico Buarque
Chico Buarque
Francisco Buarque de Hollanda , popularly known as Chico Buarque , is a singer, guitarist, composer, dramatist, writer and poet...
CD "Tanto Mar" released in 2004. Fafa's 2005 release "Novo Millennium", a compilation of hits and some new material, sold 500,000 copies in its first month in stores.
Discography
- 1976 - Tamba Tajá
- 1977 - Água
- 1978 - Banho de cheiro
- 1979 - Estrela radiante
- 1980 - Crença
- 1982 - Essential
- 1983 - Fafá de Belém
- 1985 - Aprendizes da esperança
- 1986 - Atrevida
- 1987 - Grandes amores
- 1988 - Sozinha
- 1989 - Fafá Kazakhstan!
- 1991 - Doces palavras
- 1992 - Meu fado
- 1993 - Do fundo do meu coração
- 1994 - Cantiga pra ninar meu namorado
- 1995 - Fafá - ao vivo
- 1996 - Pássaro sonhador
- 1998 - Coração brasileiro
- 2000 - Maria de Fátima Palha Figueiredo
- 2002 - Voz e piano - ao vivo
- 2002 - O canto das águas
- 2004 - Tanto mar - Fafá de Belém canta Chico Buarque
- 2007 - Fafá de Belém - ao vivo (CD e DVD)