The singer-songwriter Gal Costa, one of the most important artists of Brazilian popular music, died this morning at the age of 77 in São Paulo, Brazil. She reports the BBC explaining that the news was released by the singer’s press office that she did not explain the causes of her death. Gal Costa was due to perform last week at the Primavera Sound Festival in Sao Paulo, but her participation had been canceled as well as all her scheduled engagements in November. Last September the artist had been operated on to remove a lump in the right nasal cavity, but there is no confirmation that the operation is in any way linked to her death.
Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos was born on September 26, 1945 in Salvador de Bahia. As a teenager she had worked at a famous record shop, an experience that allowed her to learn about all the musical innovations of the time and which contributed to her childhood dream of becoming a singer. While still a teenager, Gal Costa befriended Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethânia and Gilberto Gil, with whom she will be part of the group known as Doces Bárbaros.
His debut as a singer took place in June 1964, in the show “Nós, por exemplo”, which marked the opening of the Vila Velha Theater, in Salvador, performing alongside Caetano Veloso, Tom Zé, Maria Bethânia, Djalma Correa, Alcivando Luz, Pitti, Fernando Lona and Gilberto Gil. In the same year the group also presented the show “Nova bossa Velha, Velha bossa nova”. Icon of the movement known as “Tropicália”, Gal Costa participated in the album of the same name, ou Panis et Circencis. In 1977 the album “Caras e bocas”, which included the song “Tigresa” by Caetano Veloso, marked his career with excellent reviews. In 1980 he won his third gold record, with the LP “Aquarela do Brasil”, in which he only recorded songs by Ary Barroso.