18 Facts About Clara Nunes

Clara Nunes was the first female singer in Brazil to sell over 100,000 copies of a record, with "Tristeza Pe No Chao" and her achievements in the samba genre earned her the title of "Queen of Samba".

Clara Nunes had an enormous success with samba songs written by composers such as Nelson Cavaquinho, Paulinho da Viola and Chico Buarque, in addition to songs devoted to orishas and Portela, her favorite samba school.

At the peak of her career, Nunes would sell more than a million copies of each album she released.

Clara Nunes was a researcher of the rhythms and folklore of Brazilian popular music, and traveled several times to Africa to search for the roots of black music.

Clara Nunes Francisca Goncalves was born on August 12,1942, in Cedro, Paraopeba, Minas Gerais, where she lived until the age of 16.

Clara Nunes was the youngest child of Manuel Pereira de Araujo, and Amelia Goncalves Nunes.

Clara Nunes was a violeiro and a participant in the local Festival of the Three Kings.

At that time, Clara Nunes attended catechism classes in the Church of the Eucharistic Crusade.

In 1952, as a young girl, Clara Nunes won her first singing contest, held in her hometown, performing "Recuerdos de Ypacarai".

On weekends, Clara Nunes participated in the rehearsals of the Renaissance Choir, at the church in the neighborhood where she lived.

The record producer Cid Carvalho persuaded her to change her stage name to Clara Nunes, using her mother's maiden name.

Thereafter, Clara Nunes began singing at Radio Inconfidencia in Belo Horizonte.

Clara Nunes began to perform as a crooner in nightclubs and bars in the state capital, later working with then bassist Milton Nascimento, then known as Bituca.

In 1963, Clara Nunes got her own TV show on Belo Horizonte's Itacolomi channel, titled Clara Nunes Presents.

In 1974, Clara Nunes had a hit with the samba "Conto de Areia" and her album sold approximately 300,000 copies.

Clara Nunes was famous for songs crafted from the rhythms of Umbanda, her Afro-Brazilian religion, and for her typical costumes, as she always dressed in white and wore many necklaces and African beads.

On March 5,1983, Clara Nunes underwent a seemingly simple surgery to treat varicose veins, but ended up having an allergic reaction to one of the components of the anesthetic.

Clara Nunes suffered a cardiac arrest and remained hospitalized for 28 days in Clinica Sao Vicente's Intensive Care Unit.