She was crowned “Brazilian singer of the millennium” by the BBC in 1999. The diva of Brazilian song, Elza Soares, died on Thursday January 20 at the age of 91 of “natural causes” in her residence in Rio de Janeiro, announced its press service.
“It is with great sadness and sorrow that we inform you of the death of singer and songwriter Elza Soares, at the age of 91 (…) in her home in Rio de Janeiro, from natural causes“, indicates the press release posted on the artist’s Instagram account. With more than thirty records to his credit during more than 60 years of career, the black diva with her characteristic hoarse timbre was considered one of the greatest voices in Brazilian song.
Marked by many personal dramas, Elza Gomes da Conceição Soares had become a symbol of resistance and courage at the end of his life. Daughter of a worker and a laundress, she was born on June 23, 1930 in a favela in Rio de Janeiro. His father had him forced to marry at age 12, she became a mother the following year. She had seven children by her first husband, two of whom died prematurely. Widowed at 21, she had confessed to stealing food to feed her children. She then lived for seventeen years with the Brazilian footballer Mané Garrincha, with whom she had a son who died prematurely at the age of nine.
