Cesária Évora

Play Radio

3,313,846 plays (240,365 listeners)

Send Cesária Évora Ringtones to Cell
Buy
Add to my Library

Mindelo, Cape Verde (1941 – 2011)

Cesária Évora, born 27 August 1941 in the port town of Mindelo, Cape Verde, on the island of São Vicente - 17 December 2011, was a notable folk singer. She was known as the “barefoot diva” because of her propensity to appear on stage in her bare feet in support of the homeless and poor women and children of her country.

Long known as the queen of the , a soulful genre (related with the Portuguese ) sung in Creole-Portuguese, she mixed her sentimental folk tunes filled with longing and sadness with the acoustic sounds of guitar, cavaquinho, violin, accordion, and clarinet. Évora’s Cape Verdean blues often spoke of the country’s history of isolation and slave trade, as well as emigration; almost two-thirds of the million Cape Verdeans alive live abroad.

Évora’s voice, a finely-tuned, melancholy instrument with a touch of hoarseness, highlighted her emotional phrasing by accenting a word or phrase. Even audiences who do not understand her language could be held spell-bound by the emotions evident in her performances.

In 2004 she won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album.

A heavy smoker for decades, Evora was diagnosed with heart problems in 2005. She suffered strokes in 2008 and in September 2011, when she announced she was retiring. She died at the age of 70 in São Vicente, Cape Verde on December 17 from respiratory failure and hypertension. A Spanish newspaper reported that 48 hours before her death she was still receiving people -and smoking- in her home in Mindelo, popular for always having its doors open.
Share this artist:

Top Albums

  • Best of Cesária Évora
    Cesária Évora Play
    Buy
  • Cabo Verde
    Cesária Évora Play
    Buy
  • Miss Perfumado
    Cesária Évora Play
    Buy
  • Cesaria
    Cesária Évora Play
    Buy
See more

Top Tracks

1
473
2
322
3  
292
4
219
5  
217
6
172
7
154
8
126
9
123
10
118
10
118
12
117
13
106
14
102
15
98
Buy all tracks at Amazon MP3
See more

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).
  • Sjanyk_San

    welcome! тундрі теж можна! One World - Many Cultures <<< join! >>> Я люблю рідну мову This is a group for people only. Please don't join if you are not a human.

    Sunday evening
  • VladShestakov

    Вечная память такой светлой и талантливой женщине.

    last month
  • EricValeev

    трудно поверить..светлая память(

    last month
  • Victorhugones

    una alegria conocer su hermosa voz y su legado musical !!!

    March 2012
  • ILLUSiONER86

    Очень хотел увидеть её, всё никак не получалось. Узнал недавно... Вечная, вечная память!

    March 2012
  • Alex_psychopaul

    A stunning voice. extraordinary.

    February 2012
  • ilya-fm

    Люблю ее

    February 2012
  • samuv

    R.I.P :(

    February 2012
See all 314 shouts

Videos

See more

Top Listeners

See more

More Information

Links
Labels