Representative Albums: "2 Em 1", "The Best of Clara Nunes", "Meus Momentos
Representative Songs: "Canto das Três Raças", "Jogo de Angola", "A Deusa Dos Orixás
Biography
Together with Beth Carvalho and Alcione, Clara Nunes, in life, was regarded as one of the three Queens of Samba. She had (and still has) enormous success with sambas by composers of the hills like "Juízo Final" (Nelson Cavaquinho/Élcio Soares) and "Coração Leviano" (Paulinho da Viola) and songs devoted to her religion, the Candomblé. Among her hits, recorded in her solo 16 albums, there are "Você Passa E Eu Acho Graça" (Ataulfo Alves/Carlos Imperial), "Ê Baiana," "A Deusa Dos Orixás," "Macunaíma," "O Mar Serenou," (Candeia), "As Forças Da Natureza" (João Nogueira/Paulo César Pinheiro), "Guerreira," "Feira de Mangaio" (Sivuca/Glorinha Gadelha), "Portela Na Avenida" (Mauro Duarte/Paulo César Pinheiro), and "Nação" (João Bosco/Aldir Blanc). An orphan since childhood, Clara Nunes became a manual laborer at a factory suffering with difficulties and poverty. In 1960, she won the Minas Gerais section of the national contest A Voz de Ouro ABC and was classified in the third place in the national final. Hired by a radio, she had her own show at TV Itacolomi (Minas Gerais). Also singing in nightclubs, she was appointed for three times as best singer of the year. She moved to Rio in 1965 and was hired by TV Continental. The first record came in next year, A Voz Adorável de Clara Nunes. Singing boleros and sambas-canção, the option for the samba came only in 1968 with her first hit, "Você Passa E Eu Acho Graça" (Ataulfo Alves/Carlos Imperial). In 1970, she had success with "É Baiana" (Fabrício da Silva/Baianinho/Ênio Santos Ribeiro/Miguel Pancrácio) and the Portela samba-enredo "Ilu Ayê" (Norival Reis/Silvestre Davi da Silva). In 1972, she staged her first show, Sabiá Sabiô. The samba "Tristeza Pé No Chão" (Armando Fernandes), recorded in the same year, sold more than 100,000 copies. In 1973, sided by Vinícius de Moraes and Toquinho, she opened in Salvador, the show O Poeta, A Moça e O Violão. In the same year, she performed in Lisbon, Portugal, and, in the next year, in the MIDEM (Cannes, France). In 1974, her LP Alvorecer had the hits "Conto de Areia" (Romildo/Toninho), "Menino de Deus" (Mauro Duarte/Paulo César Pinheiro), and "Meu Sapato Já Furou" (Elton Medeiros/Mauro Duarte), selling 300,000 copies and opening opportunities for other female singers like Alcione and Beth Carvalho. In 1975, she toured several European countries. This was the year in which she released her most successful album, Claridade, followed by the also successful Canto Das Três Raças. In 1980, she had another big hit with "Morena de Angola," written by Chico Buarque especially for her. She died during a controverted varicose veins surgery, provoking generalized consternation. ~ Alvaro Neder, All Music Guide
Clara Francisca Nunes Pinheiro, best known simply as Clara Nunes, (Caetanópolis - August 12, 1943; Rio de Janeiro - April 2, 1983)[1] was a Braziliansamba singer, considered one of the greatest interpreters of her country. Researcher of Brazilian popular music, rhythms and folklore, she also traveled several times to Africa. Knowledgeable of dances and traditions African-Brazilian, she has become the Umbanda. Clara Nunes was one of the singers that more serious composers of the songs Portela, her favorite samba school. It was the first Brazilian female singer to sell over 100 thousand copies, dropping a taboo according to which women are not selling disc. She remains one of the most popular and beloved musicians in Brazil.
Clara was a factory worker when she decided to compete in a music contest, being placed third at the finals held in São Paulo in 1959. She got a day-job at a radio station in Belo Horizonte and sang in nightclubs. In 1965, Clara moved to Rio de Janeiro, recording a mix of boleros and samba songs on her first album.
After a few LPs featuring assorted styles, she signed her name as a samba vocalist in the 1970s and became best-known. In 1974, Clara had a hit with the samba "Conto de Areia" and her album sold approximately 300 thousand copies. It was a remarkable number, then, helping put down the common knowledge that women weren’t big record sellers and stimulating the companies to invest in other female samba musicians, like Alcione and Beth Carvalho. In 1975, she toured Europe.
The following albums transformed her into one of the "three samba queens" of her time, along with the two above-mentioned musicians. On the second half of the decade, she would release one album every year, all of them selling well and featuring historic tracks like "Juízo Final", "Coração Leviano" and "Morena de Angola". Other hits of her career were "Você Passa e Eu Acho Graça", "Ê Baiana", "Ilu Ayê - Terra da Vida", "Tristeza, Pé no Chão", "A Deusa dos Orixás", "Macunaíma", "O Mar Serenou", "As Forças da Natureza", "Guerreira", "Feira de Mangaio", "Portela na Avenida" and "Nação".
Clara was also famous for songs crafted upon the rhythms of Umbanda, her African-Brazilian religion, and for her typical costumes, as she always dressed in white and wore lots of necklaces and African beads.[2]
Clara died prematurely on April 2, 1983 from complications of anesthesia during surgery to correct varicose veins, prompting mourning throughout Brazil.[3]