Elza Soares, a great Brazilian vocalist who had a discography of more than three dozen recordings, has passed away at the age of 91.
Several members of her family and team released a statement on social media last night (January 20).
They said the actress passed away around 3:45 p.m. on Thursday at her Rio de Janeiro residence. It has been stated that she died as a result of natural causes.
"The beloved and eternal Elza has rested, but she will forever be in the history of music, in our hearts, and in the hearts of thousands of fans around the world," the singer's representatives wrote in a statement.
Adding that, she "had an apotheotic, intense life that moved the world with her voice, her strength, and her determination."
"With Elza Soares's wishes made, she sang until the end", the announcement of her death ends.
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Origins of Elza Soares
Having grown up in a family of factory workers and washerwomen, Soares found her way into the world of music when she was a little girl.
Her father, Gomes, was a guitarist, and he frequently accompanied Soares as she was learning how to sing.
However, her professional career would not begin until the late 1950s because she was pushed into marriage at the age of 12.
By the time she was 21, she was a widow with four children and a dead-end job at a soap factory.
Rest in Power and Peace, Elza Soares (June 23, 1930 – January 20, 2022). Soares was an Afro-Brazilian samba singer. In 1999, she was named Singer of the Millennium by BBC Radio.
📸: Elza Soares in April 1972. Arquivo Nacional. Fundo Correio da Manhã. pic.twitter.com/iAsBF8EaUx— Black Women Radicals (@blkwomenradical) January 20, 2022
With the jazz-influenced samba single 'Se Acaso Você Chegasse', which saw her merge Louis Armstrong-styled scatting with traditional Brazilian music, she made her breakthrough in 1960.
Soares immediately gained notoriety for her powerful, deep voice and commanding demeanor.
Soares' legacy
After relocating to Sao Paulo in her early thirties, she established herself as a mainstay of the city's nightclub samba scene.
The 1970s were marked by a flurry of worldwide touring, with stints in the United States and Europe establishing Soares as a household name throughout the world.
Soares addressed the issues of class consciousness, racial discrimination, and societal inequity in a way that went against cultural conventions and stretched the bounds of Brazilian music.
She was an outspoken advocate for the rights of African-Americans, LGBT men, and women, particularly as her career progressed into the twenty-first century.
"I am part of the voice of the people of Brazil and it is the people who make me sing," Soares expressed in a 2004 interview with The Independent.
"The voice of the people is such a strong echo that if I do not match it, I will have no reason to go on singing."
The funeral for Soares will be in place today at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro (January 21).
The public will be able to pay their condolences from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. between an 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. private service and a public memorial from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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