Cesária Évora
- Música
Cesária Évora was the most internationally recognized singer in the history of Cape Verdean popular music. Despite being successful in several other musical genres, Cesária Évora was mostly related to morna, so she was also sometimes nicknamed "queen of morna". She was known as the barefoot diva.
Cesária Évora had four brothers. Her father Justino da Cruz played cavaquinho, guitar and violin. When she was young she went to live with her grandmother, who had been educated by nuns, and so she ended up going through an experience that taught her to disregard excessively severe morality.
Among her friends was B. Leza, the favorite composer of Cape Verdeans, who died when she was only seven years old. From an early age, Cize, as she was known to her friends, began singing and performing on Sundays in the city's main square, accompanied by her brother Lela, on the saxophone. But life is intrinsically linked to the Lombo district, near the Portuguese army barracks, where he sang with composers such as Gregório Gonçalves. At the age of 16, Cesária started singing in bars and hotels and, with the help of some local musicians, gained greater notoriety in Cape Verde, being proclaimed the "Queen of Morna" by fans.
At the age of twenty, she was invited to work as a singer for Congelo – a fishing company created by the local and Portuguese capital –, receiving according to her performances. In 1975, the year in which Cape Verde gained independence, Cesária, frustrated by personal and financial issues, combined with the economic and political difficulty of the young country, stopped singing to support her family. During this period, which lasted for ten years, Cesária had to fight against alcoholism. Likewise, Cesária called this period of time the Dark Years.
Encouraged by Bana (a Cape Verdean singer and businessman living in Portugal), Cesária Évora sang again, performing in Portugal. In Cape Verde, a Frenchman named José da Silva persuaded her to go to Paris and there she ended up recording a new album in 1988 – "La diva aux pieds nus" (The diva of bare feet) – which is how she performs on stage. This album was critically acclaimed, leading her to start recording the album "Miss Perfumed" (1992). Since then she has taken up residence in the French capital. Cesária became an international star at the age of 47.
In 2004 she won a Grammy award for best contemporary world music album. The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, awarded her in 2009 with the Legion of Honour medal awarded by the French Minister of Culture Christine Albanel.
In September 2011, after cancelling a series of concerts because she was very weak, the publisher, Lusafrica, announced that the singer had put an end to her long career.
She died on 17 December 2011, at the age of 70, due to "acute cardiorespiratory failure and high cardiac tension".
Cesária Évora was the most internationally recognized singer in the history of Cape Verdean popular music. Despite being successful in several other musical genres, Cesária Évora was mostly related to morna, so she was also sometimes nicknamed "queen of morna". She was known as the barefoot diva.
Cesária Évora had four brothers. Her father Justino da Cruz played cavaquinho, guitar and violin. When she was young she went to live with her grandmother, who had been educated by nuns, and so she ended up going through an experience that taught her to disregard excessively severe morality.
Among her friends was B. Leza, the favorite composer of Cape Verdeans, who died when she was only seven years old. From an early age, Cize, as she was known to her friends, began singing and performing on Sundays in the city's main square, accompanied by her brother Lela, on the saxophone. But life is intrinsically linked to the Lombo district, near the Portuguese army barracks, where he sang with composers such as Gregório Gonçalves. At the age of 16, Cesária started singing in bars and hotels and, with the help of some local musicians, gained greater notoriety in Cape Verde, being proclaimed the "Queen of Morna" by fans.
At the age of twenty, she was invited to work as a singer for Congelo – a fishing company created by the local and Portuguese capital –, receiving according to her performances. In 1975, the year in which Cape Verde gained independence, Cesária, frustrated by personal and financial issues, combined with the economic and political difficulty of the young country, stopped singing to support her family. During this period, which lasted for ten years, Cesária had to fight against alcoholism. Likewise, Cesária called this period of time the Dark Years.
Encouraged by Bana (a Cape Verdean singer and businessman living in Portugal), Cesária Évora sang again, performing in Portugal. In Cape Verde, a Frenchman named José da Silva persuaded her to go to Paris and there she ended up recording a new album in 1988 – "La diva aux pieds nus" (The diva of bare feet) – which is how she performs on stage. This album was critically acclaimed, leading her to start recording the album "Miss Perfumed" (1992). Since then she has taken up residence in the French capital. Cesária became an international star at the age of 47.
In 2004 she won a Grammy award for best contemporary world music album. The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, awarded her in 2009 with the Legion of Honour medal awarded by the French Minister of Culture Christine Albanel.
In September 2011, after cancelling a series of concerts because she was very weak, the publisher, Lusafrica, announced that the singer had put an end to her long career.
She died on 17 December 2011, at the age of 70, due to "acute cardiorespiratory failure and high cardiac tension".
