Gal Costa.Photo: Jack Vartoogian/Getty
Gal Costa, Brazil’s iconic singer who rose to fame in the Tropicália and Brazilian music scene, died on Wednesday at 77 years old.
A press representativeconfirmed news of the superstar’s death, but didn’t offer any further detail.
Brazil’s president-electLuiz Inácio da Silvaacknowledged the losson his Twitter account.
“Gal Costa was among the world’s best singers, among our principal artists to carry the name and sounds of Brazil to the whole planet,“wrote alongside a photo of the two embracing. “Her talent, technique and courage enriched and renewed our culture, cradled and marked the lives of millions of Brazilians.”
David Redfern/Redferns
Born Maria da Graça Penna Burgos in thenortheastern state of Bahiain Brazil, Costa rose to fame with fellow artistsGilberto Gil, Veloso and Maria Bethânia.
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“It was not a matter of courage,” she toldThe New York Timesin a 1985 interview discussing the era. “I belonged to that movement, and they were my friends.”
The passionate, self-taught singer — who grew up on Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder — had “no professional training at all.”
source: people.com
