The black diva of Brazilian song Elza Soares, who died Thursday at the age of 91 in Rio de Janeiro, marked the history of music with her versatility and her personality, as striking as her voice.
Born on June 23, 1930 into a poor family, Elza Soares has managed throughout her career of more than 60 years to evolve with ease in the most diverse environments, from the favela of Agua Santa, to the suburbs of Rio where she grew up, in concert halls all over the world.
Samba, jazz, bossa nova, and even rock suited the singer’s raspy voice. At the beginning of his career, it was even thought that this characteristic timbre was due to an anomaly.
“We used to say that, but nobody has an extra vocal chord, it’s crazy. She’s twisted, I think she’s twisted, because everything in my life started out wrong,” said the singer. in an interview on a Brazilian channel in 2002.
Like her career, the personal life of Elza Gomes da Conceição Soares, who died Thursday of “natural causes” at her home, has alternated between joy and drama.
Forced to marry at 12, she had her first child the following year. At 21, she is already a widow and has given birth to seven children, only five of whom survived.
In financial difficulties, she decided in 1953 to participate in a radio musical program. When the presenter makes fun of her appearance by asking “Which planet are you from?”, she snaps, “From the planet of hunger.” After his performance, he declared: “Ladies and gentlemen, a star is born”.
In 1962, during the Football World Cup in Chile, where she was invited to be the godmother of the Brazilian team, the American star Louis Armstrong was charmed by the singer and her “saxophone in the throat”.
For 17 years, she maintained a relationship that was both fusional and stormy with Garrincha, legend of Brazilian football, who died in 1983, bruised by the ravages of alcohol.
Three years later, the couple’s son died at the age of 9, in a road accident.
Four of the artist’s eight children have died.
– “You have to live, have strength” –
The singer with the flamboyant mop of hair has experienced several musical renaissances. In 1984, she recorded “Lingua” with Caetano Veloso. In 1999, the BBC crowned her “Brazilian singer of the millennium”.
At the opening of the Pan American Games in Rio in 2007, she was chosen to sing the Brazilian national anthem a capella.
With the release of the album “A Mulher do Fim do Mundo” (“The woman at the end of the world”) in 2015, new generations are discovering her. The record, which deals with racism, machismo and violence once morest women, was a resounding success and won the Latin Grammy for best Brazilian song album.
From “Deus é mulher” (“God is a woman”) released in 2018, the public sees her singing seated, following several back operations which reduced her mobility. But she has lost none of her enthusiasm.
“I’ll tell you something: my age has nothing to do with my energy,” she confided to AFP on the occasion of the release of this disc.
The singer was also critical of the conservative wave linked to the growth of neo-Pentecostal churches, as well as of the gaping inequalities of a country still hit by serious problems of racism.
“We live in a country full of prejudices, it’s horrible. It’s my homeland, I love it madly. But we have practically no rights. The poor, the blacks, the women, where are their rights?” she protested.
“I’m not afraid of death, I’m afraid of life. It’s so bad for people that I say to myself: + My God, how can they bear it? +. But you have to live, he you have to have strength”, confided the one who had become for the Brazilians a symbol of resistance and courage.