Daniela Mercury

Brazil stands out for its wealth of musical icons across generations, and among them ranks Daniela Mercury. During the 1990s she served as the foremost axé exponent, enjoying near-divine esteem throughout Salvador da Bahia. No other figure did more to carry axé onto the global stage. Her debut album yielded the breakthrough single “Swing da Cor,” which ranked among Brazil’s most-played tracks of 1991, while the 1993 release O Canto da Cidade ignited a nationwide sensation. That project became the first Brazilian album to surpass one million copies sold and has never stopped selling. After the string of massive singles “Swing da Cor,” “O Canto da Cidade,” and “Musica de Rua” cemented her status as perhaps the nation’s most beloved artist of the early nineties—and certainly its most popular Bahian, matched nationally only by Marisa Monte—she stripped away the synthesizers and glossy production of her initial efforts to create the work widely regarded as her pinnacle, Feijão com Arroz (1996). The record stands as an axé landmark, incorporating compositions from celebrated songwriters including Carlinhos Brown (“Rapunzel”), Márcio Mello (“Nobre Vagabundo”), and Chico César (“À Primeira Vista”). In the years that followed she explored multiple axé variants, at times immersing herself in electronica, and her audience shrank outside Bahia, where loyalty never wavered. After a period of commercial obscurity she returned triumphantly with Balé Mulato (2005), a striking reclamation of artistic ground that recalled the stature of Feijão com Arroz.

Daniela Mercuri de Almeida Verçosa entered the world on July 28, 1965, in Salvador, Bahia, and spent her childhood in a middle-class household in the Brotas district. Her father, Antônio Fernando de Abreu Ferreira de Almeida, traces Portuguese ancestry and arrived in Brazil during childhood; her mother, Liliana Mercuri, descends from Italian roots. She grew up alongside four siblings: Tom, Cristiana, Vania (who records successfully under the name Vania Abreu), and Marcos. At age eight she began dance training. Drawing inspiration from Elis Regina, she added singing to her pursuits, focusing on bossa nova alongside material by Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Chico Buarque. Against her parents’ wishes she started performing in neighborhood bars in 1980 and made her trio elétrico debut the next year at Carnaval da Bahia 1981. Her passion for dance guided her to the Federal University of Bahia, where she joined the dance program in 1984. She became a mother in 1985 with the birth of Gabriel Almeida Póvoas and welcomed Giovana Almeida Póvoas the following year. Undeterred, she continued toward a music career, providing backup vocals for Gilberto Gil in the late 1980s. In 1989 she assembled the pop group Companhia Clic, whose lineup featured Rudnei Monteiro on guitar, Raul Carlos Gomes on drums, Jonga Cunha on percussion, Marcus Sampaio on bass, and Sérgio Henrique on keyboards. The band issued two self-titled albums on Eldorado Records before Mercury launched her solo career with Daniela (1991) on the same imprint, earning her initial success.

Merging samba, reggae, and pop/rock, Daniela extended the sonic territory of the Companhia Clic sessions. Though the album suffers from dated synthesizer textures, it contains “Swing da Cor,” her inaugural national hit, along with “Todo Canto Alegre” by future star Carlinhos Brown and “Geléia Geral,” originally written and recorded by Gilberto Gil. The breakthrough of “Swing da Cor,” one of 1991’s dominant Brazilian songs, led Sony to offer her a major-label deal. Her Sony debut, O Canto da Cidade (1992), produced by Liminha, marked a clear artistic advance. A tribute to Salvador, the album exploded in popularity behind the chart-topping title track. Not only did it become the first Brazilian release to exceed one million units, it remains her top-selling project, with millions more copies sold and ongoing sales. While the triumph of O Canto da Cidade dominated headlines, Mercury sustained momentum by touring extensively in 1993, including her first international concert at New York’s Ritz in April. She also recorded the Liminha-produced follow-up Musica de Rua (1994). A video for the title track—issued in both Portuguese and Spanish versions—was shot in New York. Mercury penned roughly half the songs herself; Brown contributed “Folia de Rei,” and Herbert Vianna’s ballad “Sempre Te Quis” served as a telenovela theme. Though sales trailed those of O Canto da Cidade, Musica de Rua represented further artistic progress, a trajectory that continued with the masterwork Feijão com Arroz (1996).

For that ambitious sixteen-track collection she recruited leading MPB songwriters of the era, among them the veteran duo Antônio Carlos e Jocafi, plus Brown (two songs) and Chico César (“À Primeira Vista”). The latter track, chosen as the theme for the telenovela O Rei do Gado, dominated the singles chart for weeks. Brown’s “Rapunzel” also scored widely, reaching European listeners. “Vestido de Chita” features a guest vocal from her daughter, while “Minas com Bahia” unites Mercury with Skank’s Samuel Rosa in a song of regional solidarity. The album title itself evokes unity, especially racial, an idea mirrored in its stark cover imagery. Produced by Alfredo Moura, Feijão com Arroz departs from prior work by minimizing commercial sheen, favoring dense samba rhythms over synthesizers. Sales surpassed those of Musica de Rua and approached those of O Canto da Cidade; now viewed as a masterpiece, it continues to sell at a pace that may eventually make it her biggest commercial success.

An international tour supporting Feijão com Arroz took her to Europe and the United States, where critical praise helped generate warm receptions, particularly in Portugal and France, territories where recent singles had charted. Audiences new to axé encountered concerts that balanced musical delivery with theatrical display. Mercury’s reputation rests partly on her capacity to dance almost without pause while singing, rarely pausing for breath or water. Observers consistently note her remarkable stamina and poised stage presence. The August 1998 Salvador concert documented on Elétrica (1999) captures one such performance. Opening with the title track—one of seven new songs—she powers through earlier hits beginning with “Swing da Cor” and “O Canto da Cidade,” again emphasizing percussion over synthesizers with one drummer and three percussionists. Frenetic medleys appear late in the set, which closes with vigorous readings of Brown’s “Rapunzel” and Gil’s “Toda Menina Baiana.”

Sol da Liberdade (2000) signaled a stylistic shift. Overseen by producers Andres Levin, Will Mowat, Juan Vincente Zambrano, Emilio Estefan, Jr., and Mercury herself, the album ventures further into experimentation. While axé remains central, the record incorporates various electronic beats, aiming to satisfy diverse listeners. Though not a masterpiece, it offers intriguing explorations. “Ilê Pérola Negra,” one of two Estefan productions, ranks among her biggest hits. Additional standouts include “Groove de la Baiana,” popular at Carnaval da Bahia 2001, and “Axé Axé,” one of two contributions from Caetano Veloso. Sou de Qualquer Lugar (2001) extended the electronic drift, moving further from the earthy tone of Feijão com Arroz. Employing producers Ramiro Musotto, Celso Fonseca, Marcelo Sussekind, Cesário Leony, and herself, she pushed axé boundaries with songs by Lenine (“De Qualquer Lugar”), Brown (“Baiana Havaneira”), Márcio Mello (“Beat Lamento”), and Gil (“Quem Puder Ser Bom Que Seja”), covers of Chico Science (“A Praieira”) and Rita Lee (“Mutante”), and originals “Aeromoça,” “Ata-Me,” and “Nina.” Critics and fans responded coolly, resulting in her weakest sales to date, excluding the initial small-label release.

Commercial struggles persisted as listeners reacted indifferently to ongoing stylistic changes. Eletrodoméstico (2003) presented an ambitious concept: a star-studded MTV concert blending new material, classics, covers, and collaborations. Recorded at Salvador’s Castro Alves Theater, the CD/DVD includes appearances by Italian rapper Jovanotti (“Ive Brussel”), Brown (“To Remember”), flamenco-pop singer Rosario Flores (“Riqueza”), Portuguese singer Dulce Pontes (“Milagre do Povo”), and Olodum (“Umbigo do Mundo”). Lenine wrote the title track; covers encompass Veloso’s “Baby” and Lenny Kravitz’s “It Ain’t Over ’Til It’s Over.” The project underperformed. Carnaval Eletrônico (2004), another collaborative electronica effort, likewise found limited non-Bahian interest, though opener “Maimbê Dandá,” another Brown song, thrived at Carnaval da Bahia 2004. Clássica (2005), a live CD/DVD of MPB standards, also drew scant attention.

Marketed through EMI in Brazil after parting with Sony, Balé Mulato (2005) delivered the long-awaited return to form. A pure axé statement free of experimentation, it echoes the strengths of Feijão com Arroz. From its packaging—featuring Mercury photographed defiantly at Rio’s Beija Flor de Nilópolis samba school—to its sound, the album embraces Bahian Carnaval traditions without electronic elements or crossover ambitions. Opening tracks “Topo do Mundo” and “Levada Brasileira” stand among her strongest work since “Ilê Pérola Negra,” if not since Feijão com Arroz itself. “Olha o Gandhi Aí” received an ecstatic response at Carnaval da Bahia 2005. Chico César’s show-stopping ballad “Pensar em Você” recalls the impact of his earlier “À Primeira Vista.” Márcio Mello supplies the standout “Toneladas de Amor,” and the set includes reinterpretations of Toquinho e Vinicius’s “Meu Pai Oxalá” and Ary Barroso’s “Aquarela do Brasil.”

The acclaim surrounding Balé Mulato restored public interest in an artist some had dismissed. She launched the album with a gala Carnaval da Bahia 2005 performance that was filmed and released as Baile Barroco (2006), promoted as the first DVD recorded exclusively on a trio elétrico. The show celebrated twenty years of axé with multiple guests; in a duet with Luiz Caldas she revisited his 1985 track “Fricote,” cited by some as the genre’s first song. Following Carnaval she assembled a touring production and undertook an extended international run, documented on the CD/DVD Balé Mulato: Ao Vivo (2006). These releases and events marked a decisive comeback. Although Bahia had remained steadfast even after the 2001 commercial disappointment of Sou de Qualquer Lugar, broader national popularity had faded as she moved away from the style that defined her nineties success. This context explains renewed critical emphasis on Feijão com Arroz as her defining achievement. Balé Mulato rekindled expectations for future work, reflected in renewed album and ticket sales.