Sara Tavares

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Lima and the second or paternal family name is Tavares.

Sara Tavares
jazz
  • world[1]
    • Years active1994–2023
    Tavares signing a copy of her latest record in Warsaw, September 2011

    Sara Alexandra Lima Tavares (1 February 1978 – 19 November 2023) was a Portuguese singer, composer, guitarist and percussionist. She was born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal. Second-generation Portuguese of Cape Verdean descent, she composed African-, Portuguese- and North American-influenced world music.

    Early life

    Tavares's parents were immigrants from Cape Verde who settled in Almada in the 1970s.[2] She was born on 1 February 1978.[3] While still a child, she was left in the care of an old woman when her father left the family and her mother moved to the south of the country with her younger siblings.[4]

    Tavares showed great musical promise from a young age; in 1994 she won the national television song contest

    1994 Eurovision Song Contest[4]
    at the age of 16. Her winning song, "Chamar a Música," was featured on her debut EP, Sara Tavares & Shout (1996), where Tavares mixed gospel and funk with her native Portuguese influences.

    Her debut album Mi Ma Bô [pt] was produced by Lokua Kanza and released in 1999.[7]

    In 2017, eight years after

    Latin Grammy nomination for Best Portuguese Language Roots Album.[10]

    Artistry

    Tavares composed in

    multilingual
    songs mixing Portuguese with Portuguese Creole and even English in the same song.

    She won the 1993/1994 final of the

    1994 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Chamar a Música
    " which reached 8th place.

    Tavares was also known for singing the European-Portuguese version of "God Help the Outcasts" for the Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which won a Disney Award for the best version of the original song. She also won a Portuguese Golden Globe for Best Portuguese Singer in 2000.[citation needed]

    Tavares named Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner and Aretha Franklin as her favourite childhood artists.[4] Her music was noted to feature a blending of cultures,[11] particularly those of Portugal and Cape Verde.[1] Tavares was among a group of Portuguese-born artists of African origins, that helped bring African influences to mainstream music in Portugal.[12]

    Personal life

    In 2021, Tavares publicly revealed that she discovered she was

    bisexual at the age of 24.[13]

    Death

    Sara Tavares died on 19 November 2023 in Lisbon, at age 45, from a

    brain tumour with which she had been diagnosed in 2009.[3][14]

    Legacy

    The song Pé de choro by Huca, which is set to compete in Festival da Canção 2024, is a tribute to Tavares.

    Discography

    • Sara Tavares & Shout (1996)
    • Mi Ma Bô (1999)
    • Balancê (2006)
    • Alive! in Lisboa (2008)
    • Xinti (2009)
    • Fitxadu (2017)[5]

    References

    1. ^ a b Pareles, Jon (23 January 2007). "Individualists, Straddling Cultures and Exporting Ideas". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
    2. ^ Bonifácio, João (1 May 2009). "Sara Tavares, uma mulher do seu tempo" (in Portuguese). Público. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
    3. ^ a b "🇵🇹 In memoriam: Sara Tavares". Eurovision Universe. 19 November 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
    4. ^ a b c Steward, Sue (30 November 2007). "Careful whispers". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
    5. ^ a b Dias de Almeida, Pedro (20 November 2017). "'Fitxadu': Sara Tavares é do mundo, outra vez" (in Portuguese). Visão. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
    6. ^
      BBC Brasil
      . 26 January 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
    7. ^ Lusk, Jon. "Awards for World Music 2007 - Sara Tavares". BBC Radio 3.
    8. ^ Frota, Gonçalo (20 October 2017). "Sara Tavares à escuta dos sons que a rodeiam" (in Portuguese). Público. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
    9. ^ Pereira, Mariana (28 October 2017). "Sara Tavares voltou e canta feliz como um puto atrás da bola" (in Portuguese). Diário de Notícias. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
    10. ^ Merrill, Philip (20 September 2018). "2018 Latin GRAMMY Awards Complete Winners List". Grammy Awards. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
    11. ^ Espiner, Mark (19 March 2006). "Sara Tavares, Balancê". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
    12. ^ Sieber, p. 142
    13. ^ "Sara Tavares: "Tinha 24 anos quando percebi que era bissexual"". esQrever (in European Portuguese). 13 August 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
    14. ^ "Sara Tavares (1978-2023): uma vida a chamar a música". Público. 19 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.

    Sources

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sara Tavares.
    Preceded by
    A cidade (até ser dia)
    "
    		 Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest
    1994     		Succeeded by
    Baunilha e chocolate
    "
    Preceded by Eurovision Song Contest
    Final Interval act
    2018
    with Branko & Mayra Andrade     		Succeeded by
    Madonna
    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sara_Tavares&oldid=1283896608"