Fafá de Belém

From 1976 through 2000 Fafá de Belém issued twenty albums, several of which earned gold or platinum certification. Her curvaceous, alluring appearance and lushly romantic delivery across an unusually broad spectrum—MPB, rock, bolero, Latin balladry, regional folklore, lambada, and Portuguese fado—quickly attracted a devoted audience.

She first appeared before the public in her native city in 1973. The following year she shared bills with Zé Rodrix in Rio de Janeiro RJ and with Sérgio Ricardo in Belém PA and Salvador BA; at the same time “Filho da Bahia” (Walter Queiroz) entered the charts, she contributed to the soundtrack of TV Globo’s telenovela Gabriela, and she released her debut single. Critics welcomed her first long-player, Tamba Tajá, in 1976. Água, issued the next year, moved 95,000 copies. During the 1984 campaign for direct presidential elections she emerged as a symbolic figure, performing “Menestrel das Alagoas” (Milton Nascimento/Fernando Brant) before one million listeners in Rio; her widely embraced renditions of the Brazilian National Anthem at those rallies provoked an unsuccessful legal challenge under the military government. Atrevida (1986) achieved platinum status after the single “Memórias” (Leonardo) helped it surpass 500,000 units sold. In 1993 Meu Fado itself went platinum in Portugal, where she has long enjoyed strong popularity.

Beyond those successes she scored with “Coração do Agreste” (Moacyr Luz/Aldir Blanc), “Aconteceu Você” (Guilherme Arantes), “Dentro de Mim Mora Um Anjo” (Sueli Costa/Cacaso), and “Bicho Homem” (Milton Nascimento/Fernando Brant).