Sula Miranda

Since the 1980s Sula Miranda has ranked among the most prominent sertanejo vocalists, having launched As Melindrosas alongside her two sisters during the closing years of the 1970s. The trio issued an album that recast traditional cantigas de roda in a disco style and enjoyed immediate popularity, which led to their appearance in the motion picture É Proibido Beijar As Melindrosas together with Sula’s sister Gretchen and Genival Lacerda. In 1981 Sula departed the ensemble in order to marry; following her husband’s suicide she worked as a television chorus singer before issuing her debut solo album, Sula Miranda, Vol. 1, in 1986. That record contained the Joel Marques composition “Caminhoneiro do Amor,” which moved 250,000 units inside eight weeks, secured her first gold certification, and earned her the designation “Queen of the Truck Drivers.” Subsequent singles included the 1987 Paulo Camargo–Iara Camargo track “A Voz do Rádio,” the 1988 Joel Marques song “Rumo Certo,” and the 1990 Mário Maranhão–Tivas number “Seu Olhar.” Throughout the 1990s she scored further successes with “Estrada Afora” by Paulo Debétio and Paulinho Resende, her Portuguese rendering of Paul Simon’s “The Boxer” titled “Com o Pé Na Estrada,” and her own version of the Richard Carpenter–John Bettis piece “Only Yesterday.” During the same decade she also fronted two programs of her own: Programa Sula Miranda on TV Record in 1993 and the Sula Miranda Show on TV Manchete in 1997.