Daniela Mercury

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, and had 24 Top 10 singles in the country, with 14 of them reached No. 1. Winner of a Latin Grammy for her album Balé Mulato – Ao Vivo, she also received six Brazilian Music Award, an APCA award, three Multishow Brazilian Music Awards and two awards at VMB: Best Music Video and Photography.

In 1991, Mercury released her self-titled album, which was followed by O Canto da Cidade a year later, boosting her career as a national artist and taking the axé music to the evidence. Over the years, Mercury released several albums, generating great singles like "Swing da Cor", "O Canto da Cidade", "À Primeira Vista", "Rapunzel", "Nobre Vagabundo", "Ilê Pérola Negra", "Mutante", "Maimbê Dandá", "Levada Brasileira", "Oyá Por Nós", among others. She recorded a commemorative DVD of Cirque du Soleil's 25th anniversary, and was part of the Montreal Jazz Festival. In addition, Mercury was invited to participate in the Alejandro Sanz's DVD, and sing with Paul McCartney in Oslo, Norway, during the delivery of the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 2009 she released her album called Canibália, along with the album, Daniela launched an international tour. The album spawned three singles: "Preta" with Seu Jorge, "Oyá Por Nós" with Margareth Menezes and "Sol do Sul". That same year, writer and intellectual Camille Paglia, who had an intellectual "passion" for Madonna, said Daniela Mercury is the artist who Madonna would like to be.

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, in the Portuguese Hospital in Salvador, Bahia. Her mother is Liliana Mercuri, a social worker of Italian ancestry, and her father is António Fernando de Abreu Ferreira de Almeida, a Portuguese emigrant She attended both the Ana Néri School and the Colégio Baiano. At age 13, influenced by the work of Elis Regina, she decided to become a singer. and gave birth to Gabriel Almeida Póvoas. Mercury continued to pursue a career in music and, by 1988, was a backup singer for Gilberto Gil.

That same year, Mercury's eighth studio album, Balé Mulato, was released, but through EMI. The album was very well received by the critics, with some even saying it was Mercury's best album since Feijão com Arroz (1996). It was not, however, very well received by the public, with none of the singles being able to chart on the top-ten; a large part due to lack of record company support. The next year, the Latin Grammy Award-winning live version of Balé Mulato, was released. Daniela Mercury has completed her newest release, Canibália. Canibalia was launched in October 2009.

Reinventing popular culture with Canibália and working with Cabeça de Nós Todos (2007–2013)

thumb|Mercury in 2010.

On November 19, 2007, the singer released "Preta", which features Seu Jorge. The song, which is strongly influenced by samba, was one of the most played in the country during the carnival. For the 2009's Carnival, Mercury recorded the song "Oyá Por Nós", who wrote with Alfredo Moura and Margareth Menezes. The theme, based on the song "Ketu de Iansã" was first used by Moura in the doctoral ceremony honoris-cause of Gilberto Gil at the University of Aveiro in Portugal. After that, Moura used the theme in a play in Vienna, Austria, at the University of Musicology. A year later, he showed the theme for Daniela, who did not know and she immediately wanted to record it to launch in the Carnival. In 2009, Rolling Stone Brasil magazine named Daniela as one of the 100 greatest artists of Brazilian music of all time. The names chosen by the expert jury, only 16 were women.

In November 2009, Daniela released the album entitled Canibália. It was released with five different covers and five different track lists for the album. Upon releasing the album, she toured starting 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 The Voice Kids (the version for children of the traditional show The Voice) of Portugal, because of her popularity in Portuguese lands. In the same year she released the single "A Rainha do Axé (Rainha Má)", an electronic ijexá that speaks about the strength of women, love and faith which was sung by revelers during the 2015's Carnival of Salvador. The single is the first single to the fifteenth studio album by the singer titled Vinil Virtual, released November 27, 2015 by the label Biscoito Fino.

Personal life

thumb|240px|Mercury and her wife Malu Verçosa participating in an [[LGBT seminar in the Chamber of Deputies in Brasília]]

In 1984, at 19, Mercury married electronic engineer Zalther Portela Laborda Póvoas, her high school boyfriend. The next year, on September 3, 1985, she gave birth to their first child, Gabriel (who is also a singer and songwriter). The following year, she gave birth to a girl named Giovana (who is now a dancer in Mercury's ensemble). In 1996, Mercury and Póvoas divorced. That same year, she was pointed as the reason for the split between Chico Buarque and Marieta Severo. In an interview to ISTOÉ magazine, Mercury said that "it was a levity what they did, an irresponsibility that caused an uproar in my life and in the lives of both of them". In April 2013 Daniela Mercury used social media to make public her relationship with the journalist Malu Verçosa, saying that "Malu is now my wife, my family, my inspiration to sing." Daniela Mercury and Malu Verçosa married on October 12, 2013, in a civil ceremony in Salvador da Bahia, both dressed in all white. Her father, initially critical about their relationship, was present.

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. Church officials feared she would use the occasion to promote the use of condoms.

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."

Philanthropy

Mercury has performed at a large number of charitable events. She is the second Brazilian honored as an ambassador for UNICEF (Renato Aragão was the first). She is also an ambassador for UNAIDS and UNESCO. She has performed at Rede Globo's annual charity Criança Esperança for fifteen consecutive years (1992–2007). She also represents various non-profit organizations including Caravana da Musica which has spawned her own Instituto Sol da Liberdade.

Discography

Studio albums

Daniela Mercury <small>(a.k.a. "Swing da Cor")</small> (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)

References

Sources

(Portuguese) Biography at the dictionary of MPB
(Portuguese) Biography at gossip site O Fuxico