Elza Soares

Biography

Elza Soares (1930 to 2022) was a Brazilian samba singer from Rio de Janeiro, named Singer of the Millennium by BBC Radio in 1999. Rising from poverty after a 1953 radio contest, she recorded over thirty albums, survived dictatorship era persecution and exile, and remained a star for six decades. Her late records 'A Mulher do Fim do Mundo' and 'Deus é mulher', made in her eighties, confronted racism and violence against women and introduced her gravelly, exuberant singing to a new generation.