Elis Regina Carvalho Costa (March 17, 1945 – January 19, 1982), known professionally as Elis Regina (), was a Brazilian singer of bossa nova, MPB and jazz music. She is also the mother of the singers Maria Rita and Pedro Mariano.
She became nationally renowned in 1965 after singing "Arrastão" (composed by Edu Lobo and Vinícius de Moraes) in the first edition of TV Excelsior festival song contest and soon joined O Fino da Bossa, a television program on TV Record. She was noted for her vocalization as well as for her interpretation and performances in shows. Her recordings include "Como Nossos Pais" (Belchior), "Upa Neguinho" (E. Lobo and Gianfrancesco Guarnieri), "Madalena" (Ivan Lins), "Casa no Campo" (Zé Rodrix and Tavito), "Águas de março" (Tom Jobim), "Atrás da Porta" (Chico Buarque and Francis Hime), "O Bêbado e a Equilibrista" (Aldir Blanc and João Bosco), "Conversando no Bar" (Milton Nascimento), "Alô, Alô Marciano" (Rita Lee and Roberto de Carvalho).
Her death, at the age of 36, shocked Brazil.
Biography
thumb|left|250px|Childhood home of Elis Regina, in Porto Alegre
thumb|Elis Regina in Teatro da Praia, 1969. [[Brazilian National Archives|National Archives of Brazil]]
Elis Regina was born in Porto Alegre, where she began her career as a singer at an early age on the children's radio show Clube de Guri. In her early teens she signed a record contract and a couple years later traveled to Rio de Janeiro, where she recorded her first album. by Edu Lobo and Vinícius de Moraes, which made her the biggest selling Brazilian recording artist since Carmen Miranda. Her second album, Dois na Bossa with Jair Rodrigues, set a national sales record and became the first Brazilian album to sell over one million copies. "Arrastão" increased her popularity because the festival was broadcast via TV and radio. The record represented the beginning of música popular brasileira (Brazilian popular music) and contrasted with bossa nova. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she helped popularize tropicalismo with Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, and Caetano Veloso.
In 1970 she had her first son with first husband Ronaldo Bôscoli. Later on she had two more children with musician Cesar Camargo Mariano.
Regina was nicknamed "hurricane" and "little pepper".
Legacy
On August 18, 1997 Regina was posthumously awarded with the rank of the Order of Prince Henry of Portugal.
In 2005, a memorial space was opened at the Casa de Cultura Mario Quintana in Porto Alegre, Brazil to house the Elis Regina Collection. The space exhibits audiovisuals, CDs, articles and other media materials and documents about the life and work of Regina.
Discography
Studio albums
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
! Year
! width="200"| Album
|-
| 1961
| Viva a Brotolândia
|-
| 1962
|Poema de Amor
|-
|1963
|Ellis Regina
|-
|1963
|O Bem do Amor
|-
|1965
|Samba - Eu Canto Assim
|-
|1966
|Elis
|-
| 1969
|Elis - Como e Porque
|-
| 1969
| Elis & Toots
|-
|1970
|Em Pleno Verão
|-
|1971
|Ela
|-
|1972
|Elis
|-
|1973
|Elis
|-
|1974
|Elis & Tom (with Antônio Carlos Jobim)
|-
|1974
|Elis
|-
|1976
|Falso Brilhante
|-
|1977
|Elis
|-
|1979
|Essa Mulher
|-
|1980
|Saudade do Brasil
|-
|1980
|Elis
|-
|}
Live albums
In life
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
! Year
! width="200"| Album
|-
|1965
|Dois na Bossa (with Jair Rodrigues)
|-
| 1965
| O Fino do Fino (with Zimbo Trio)
|-
|1966
|Dois na Bossa nº 2 (with Jair Rodrigues)
|-
|1967
|Dois na Bossa nº 3 (with Jair Rodrigues)
|-
|1970
|Elis no Teatro da Praia
|-
|1978
|Transversal do Tempo
|-
|}
Posthumous
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
! Year
! width="200"| Album
|-
| 1982
| Montreux Jazz Festival
|-
| 1982
| Trem Azul
|-
|1984
| Luz das Estrelas
|-
| 1995
| Elis ao Vivo
|-
| 1998
| Elis Vive
|-
| 2012
| Um Dia
|-
|}
Compilation albums
Posthumous
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! width="200"| Album
|-
| 2001 || Sucessos Inesquecíveis de Elis Regina
|}
References
Further reading
- Arashiro, Osny. Elis Regina por ela mesma. M. Claret, 1995.
- Echeverria, Regina (1985) Furacão Elis. Inclui cronologia e discografia por Maria Luiza Kfouri. Rio de Janeiro: Nórdica / Círculo do Livro. 363p. 2.ed. rev. ampl. 1994 (São Paulo: Ed. Globo); 3.ed. 2002 (São Paulo: Ed. Globo). 239p.
- Goés, Ludenbergue. Mulher brasileira em primeiro lugar: o exemplo e as lições de vida de 130 brasileiras consagradas no exterior. Ediouro Publicações, 2007.
- Kiechaloski, Zeca (1984) Elis Regina. Col. Esses Gaúchos. Porto Alegre: Tchê! 101p.
- Pugialli, Ricardo. Almanaque da Jovem guarda: nos embalos de uma década cheia de brasa, mora?. Ediouro Publicações, 2006.
- Sarsano, José Roberto. (2005) Boulevard des Capucines. Teatro Olympia, Paris 1968: Elis Regina e Bossa Jazz Trio em uma época de ouro da MPB. Ed. Árvore da Terra. 207p.
- Silva, Walter. Vou te contar: histórias de música popular brasileira. Conex, 2002.
- Elis Regina Por Ela Mesma. (1995) Org. Osny Arashiro. São Paulo: Martin Claret. 2.ed. rev. 2004. 229p.
- O Melhor de Elis Regina. (2003) Melodias cifradas com as letras de 28 músicas do repertório de Elis Regina. Ed. Irmãos Vitale. 112p.