Daniela Mercury
Daniela Mercury | |
---|---|
Occupations |
|
Instrument | Vocals |
Years active | 1989–present |
Labels |
|
Website | Official website |
Daniela Mercury (born Daniela Mercuri de Almeida on July 28, 1965) is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, dancer, and producer. In her solo career, Mercury has sold over 11 million records worldwide,
In 1991, Mercury released her
In 2009 she released her album called
In 2011 the American TV channel CBS, elected Daniela Mercury as the "Carmen Miranda of the new times". The Canibália album was released in the United States yielded a critique of The New York Times saying: "Daniela Mercury goes beyond the concepts that were stressed during her career (...) with a contemporary pop, embracing ethnic and cultural diversity of Brazil (particularly african-Brazilian culture, while Daniela Mercury is white), remembering the past and transforming it."
Early life
Daniela Mercuri de Almeida was born on July 28, 1965,
At eight years old, Mercury began taking dance lessons,
Career
Early career (1984–1990)
From 1986 to 1988, Mercury was the lead singer for the band Cheiro de Amor.
Rise to fame (1991–1993)
Mercury's self-titled debut album was released in 1991 through independent record company Eldorado. The lead single of the album, "
In 1992, she presented the project "Som do Meio-Dia" (Midday Sound) at the Art Museum of São Paulo (MASP). The show brought together over thirty thousand spectators, which eventually leave the traffic jam in the vicinity of the Paulista Avenue. After forty-minutes concert, Daniela was removed from the stage by representatives of the São Paulo tourist office, that concerned with the museum structure, obtained an order from the military police to remove it from the local.
Soon after the show, Daniela was hired by
The album also yielded Mercury, a year-end special on
Some consider O Canto da Cidade was the forerunner of the
Artistic development (1994–2000)
In 1994, Música de Rua was released through Sony. The album was received with lukewarm reviews, with some critics complaining about the similarities between this album and its predecessor. Nevertheless, the album was very well received by the public, producing the hits "Música de Rua", "O Reggae e o Mar" (both number-one hits), "Por Amor ao Ilê" (a top-ten hit) and "A Rosa" (top-twenty). This was Mercury's first album to produce singles which have failed to chart.
In 1996,
In 1998, Mercury's first live album, Elétrica was released through Sony. It produced the top-ten hit "Trio Metal", which charted at number eight.
Experimentation with electronica (2000–2004)

In 2000, Mercury released her fifth studio album, Sol da Liberdade, through BMG. It produced two number-one singles ("Ilê Pérola Negra" and a cover of Antonio Marcus' "Como Vai Você"). The album, which was produced by Suba, was innovative in Mercury's career for its fusion with electronic music sounds.
The following year, Mercury released Sou de Qualquer Lugar through
In April 2003, Mercuy's second live album, MTV ao Vivo – Eletrodoméstico, was released through BMG. It was recorded on January 23 and 24 of that same year at the Castro Alves Theater in Salvador for MTV Brasil. It was also released in the DVD format, Mercury's first. Among the artists who performed with the singer were Dulce Pontes, Rosario Flores, Jovanotti, Carlinhos Brown and Olodum. The sales were very inferior to Mercury's previous and it only produced one top twenty hit ("Meu Plano").
In 2004, Carnaval Eletrônico was released through
Back to basics (2005–2007)
In 2005, Clássica was released through Som Livre on both CD and DVD. Recorded from a concert Mercury gave the year before at São Paulo's Casa de Espetáculo, the album is a sampler of bossa nova, jazz, and some of her biggest MPB hits. The record signaled a new phase for Mercury, who chose independence from record companies to gain full control of her work. Mercury was in London, during the July 7 bombings.[10]
That same year, Mercury's eighth studio album,
Reinventing popular culture with Canibália and working with Cabeça de Nós Todos (2007–2013)

On November 19, 2007, the singer released "
Finally in November 2009, Daniela released the album entitled Canibália. The album marks her return to the studio after five years. The recording sessions for the album takes almost three years to be done, Canibália hit stores with five different covers – a Gringo Cardia project. And five different track lists for the album, according to the singer, is an extensive project that combines music, dance, video and plastic arts – various expressions of art covered by it.
Daniela Mercury has said that "Canibália is an embrace, a swallow of Tropicália, the Clube da Esquina and everything that has since been created in the arts in Brazil since the – ‘Semana de 22’ [‘Semana de Arte Moderna de 1922 ’-The Week of Modern Art] – I yearn for the liberty that comes from this anthropophagic movement, of the Cannibalist Manifesto by Oswald de Andrade and its practice by Mario [de Andrade), who spoke that these mixtures reinforce our [Brazilian] identity".
José Oswald de Andrade Souza (1890 – October 1954) was a Brazilian poet and a controversial thinker. Born in São Paulo, Andrade was one of the founders of the Brazilian Modernist movement and a member of the Group of Five, including Mário de Andrade, Anita Malfatti, Tarsila do Amaral Oswald de Andrade]. Andrade is recognized by his nationalist, Manifesto Antropófago (Cannibalist Manifesto), published in 1928. The manifesto argues that based on the premise that the history of Brazil has, as its greatest strength, the power to cannibalize others and simultaneously plays with the idea of cannibalism as a modern primitivism; like a presumed tribal rite. Cannibalism then, becomes a way for Brazil to reaffirm itself against the cultural domination of Post Colonial Europe. The iconic phrase of the manifesto "Tupi or not Tupi" is as much a celebration of the Tupinamba, a documented tribe of cannibals, as it is an act of genius cannibalizing Shakespeare's, "To be or not to be".
In 2009, her tour named by the album title started in São Paulo, and traveled to several Brazilian cities and abroad. The work pays tribute to Carmen Miranda, at her centenary, with songs like "Tico-Tico no Fubá" and "O Que É Que A Baiana Tem?".
For 2010's Carnival, Daniela Mercury recorded "Andarilho Encantado", song released officially in the special project of the singer called Pôr do Som (Sunset Sound), the show that brings Mercury as headliner each year on the first day of the year at the Farol da Barra, in Salvador, Bahia. The song was written by Mercury and Marcelo Quintanilha. Also in 2010, the year that the Electric Trio celebrates 60 years and Axé Music 25 years, the singer reaches 20 years of solo career – with significant-selling records. To commemorate the date, the media raised the possibility it make a documentary film about this invention of Bahian carnival, the axé music, praising percussionists.
In February 2013, the singer was invited to be interviewed in the Leading Women program of CNN International, and was announced by the issuer as the "Brazilian Madonna". The attraction highlights the most influential women in the world in their fields. Already in 2012, the Bahian singer had attracted the attention of American writer and feminist Camille Paglia, who declared to the British newspaper The Independent, that had a "crush" by the Bahian star. Since she had been in the country, for a conference in Bahia, Paglia has written enthusiastic articles about Mercury, saying that Daniela Mercury is the artist who Madonna wanted to be. Paglia said, a Canadian television station, which is "in love with a Brazilian superstar. I'm watching her work. She is Daniela Mercury. In fact, this has been very important. This is the point where I am in my life" . In an interview with the Brazilian magazine Veja, intellectual revealed her plans to write two books about the Bahian singer.
At the end of 2013, released the album Daniela Mercury & Cabeça de Nós Todos, a partnership with the Brazilian group Cabeça de Nós Todos, with songs like "Couché", "Alma Feminina", "Paula e Bebeto", "Aquele Abraço" and "Cheia de Graça" are some of the tracks are presented in this work. It is an urban and pop-rock album, which does not show Daniela's rhythmic signature; it was launched with a book called "Daniela and Malu, A Love Story", a partnership with her wife Malu Verçosa. The book tells the story of their relationship, from the moment of friendship to marriage.
The Voice Kids and Vinil Virtual (2014–present)
In 2014, she was mentor on
Personal life
In 1984, at 19, Mercury married electronic engineer Zalther Portela Laborda Póvoas, her high school boyfriend.
Controversies
At late 2005, Mercury, a devout Catholic, was uninvited from a Christmas concert in the Vatican City due to her endorsement of a Ministry of Health campaign encouraging young people to use condoms.[16] Church officials feared she would use the occasion to promote the use of condoms.[17]
In 2006, Mercury openly opposed Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's reelection. This drew criticism from other artists, such as Zeca Baleiro, who accused her of being favored by the late Antônio Carlos Magalhães, a controversial oligarch from Bahia (which she denied vehemently). Later that same year, in an interview with Folha de S.Paulo, Mercury declared she was against reelections in general. She also said that she voted for Lula four times and that she was disappointed "by his first term (...), shocked with all these scandals". However, she said that she hoped that "Brazil would now have the four years of Lula that we hoped for in his first term."[18]
Philanthropy
Mercury has performed at a large number of charitable events. She is the second Brazilian honored as an ambassador for
Discography
Studio albums
- Daniela Mercury(a.k.a. "Swing da Cor") (1991)
- O Canto da Cidade (1992)
- Música de Rua (1994)
- Feijão com Arroz (1996)
- Sol da Liberdade (2000)
- Sou de Qualquer Lugar (2001)
- Carnaval Eletrônico (2004)
- Balé Mulato (2005)
- Canibália (2009)
- Daniela Mercury & Cabeça de Nós Todos (2013)
- Vinil Virtual (2015)
- Perfume (2020)
- Baiana (2022)
Tours
- Swing da Cor Tour (1991–1992)
- O Canto da Cidade Tour (1992–1994)
- Música de Rua Tour (1995–1996)
- Feijão com Arroz Tour (1996–1997)
- Elétrica Tour (1998–1999)
- Sol da Liberdade Tour (2000–2001)
- Sou de Qualquer Lugar Tour (2002)
- Eletrodoméstico Tour (2003)
- Carnaval Eletrônico Tour (2004)
- Balé Mulato Tour (2006–2009)
- Canibália Tour(2009–2012)
- Couché Tour (2013)
- Pelada Tour (2014)
- Baile da Rainha Má Tour (2015–2017)
- O Axé, a Voz e o Violão Tour (2016–2017)
See also
References
- ^ "Daniela Mercury promete show 'sem economia' para público do Recife". Pernambuco (in Brazilian Portuguese). May 8, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
- ^ a b Daniela Mercury biography. IMDb.
- ^ Mercury, Daniela (2008). Daniela Mercury: O Canto da Cidade – 15 Anos opening sequence (DVD). Sony BMG.
- ^ a b Biography at official website Archived October 8, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ All Music Guide.
- ^ a b c "pagina nao encontrada". facom.ufba.br.
- ^ Biography Archived November 26, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Cravo Albin Dictionary of Brazilian Popular Music.
- ^ Botelho, Thaís and Blanes, Simone. "O casamento secreto de Daniela Mercury" Archived January 19, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Istoé Gente.
- ^ a b c d Daniela Mercury on MPB Dictionary
- ^ "Folha Online - Ilustrada - Em Londres, Daniela Mercury relata horror das explosões - 07/07/2005". www1.folha.uol.com.br.
- ^ "Dictionary Cravo Albin of the Brazilian Popular Music". Archived from the original on July 4, 2007. Retrieved November 15, 2007.
- ^ "Daniela Mercury". IMDb.
- ^ "ISTOÉ Independente". ISTOÉ Independente.
- ^ Maselli, Juliana; Bessa, Priscila. "Daniela Mercury posta foto de mulher e diz: 'Minha esposa, minha família'". Ego magazine (in Portuguese). Retrieved April 6, 2013.
- ^ Daniela Mercury se casa no civil com Malu Verçosa Archived October 14, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, CARAS Online, October 12, 2013.
- ^ "Vatican cancels singer for "pro-condom" statement.(The Church and HIV/AIDS)(Daniela Mercury)(Brief Article) - Conscience | HighBeam Research". November 5, 2012. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012.
- ^ "Daniela Mercury.(dropped from the Vatican's annual Christmas concert)(Brief Article) - National Catholic Reporter | HighBeam Research". November 5, 2012. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012.
- ^ "Folha Online - Ilustrada - Daniela Mercury critica lei "antijabá" e compara download a assalto - 19/12/2006". www1.folha.uol.com.br.