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Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças, known professionally as Céu (; born 17 April 1980), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter whose first American album was released on the
Six Degrees Records Six Degrees Records is an independent record label noted for its catalog of recordings from international musicians and vocalists. History In 1996, former Windham Hill employees Pat Berry and Bob Duskis founded Six Degrees Records with the in ...
label in April 2007.


Career life

She was born in
São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
, Brazil, to a musical family. Her father being a composer, arranger and
musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...
. It was from her father that she learned to appreciate Brazil's classical music composers, particularly
Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the ...
, Ernesto Nazaré and Orlando Silva. By age fifteen she had decided to become a musician and by her late teens she had studied
music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...
, as well as the ''
violão The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...
'' (nylon-stringed Brazilian guitar). Her songs reveal many influences, which include
samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...
, ''valsa'',
choro ''Choro'' (, "cry" or "lament"), also popularly called ''chorinho'' ("little cry" or "little lament"), is an instrumental Brazilian popular music genre which originated in 19th century Rio de Janeiro. Despite its name, the music often has a ...
,
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
,
rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
, hip hop,
afrobeat Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) and American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting ...
and electrojazz music. She cites as influences the music of African-Americans
Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...
,
Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...
,
Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...
,
Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the ...
, and
Jorge Ben Jorge Duílio Lima Menezes (born March 22, 1939) is a Brazilian popular musician, performing under the stage name Jorge Ben Jor since the 1980s, though commonly known by his former stage name Jorge Ben (). His characteristic style fuses samba, ...
. Céu was performing onstage with major artists and exploring the repertoire of the marchinhas (turn-of-the-century carnival music) by her late teens. Soon after that, she relocated temporarily to New York City, where she had a chance to meet with fellow Brazilian musician Antônio Pinto. She later learned that he was actually a distant cousin. Their relationship was renewed when he teamed up with lead producer Beto Villares, composer of the musical score for the movie ''
O Ano em Que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias ''The Year My Parents Went on Vacation'' ( pt, O Ano em Que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias) is a 2006 Brazilian Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Cao Hamburger. The screenplay, which took four years to be completed, was written by ...
'' (2007), to help her record her album. Antonio Pinto, who produced Céu's song "Ave Cruz" is the composer of the musical score for two Oscar Nominated films, ''
Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
'' (1999) and '' City of God'' (2002). Originally issued in 2005 on the São Paulo-based Urban Jungle, her self-titled debut album
Céu Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças, known professionally as Céu (; born 17 April 1980), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter whose first American album was released on the Six Degrees Records label in April 2007. Career life She was born in São Pa ...
was picked up by Six Degrees/
Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
/
Hear Music Hear Music was a record label that was founded in 2007 in a partnership between Concord Music Group and Starbucks. Hear Music began as a catalog company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1990 before being purchased by Starbucks in 1999. Conce ...
in the US and UK,
JVC JVC (short for Japan Victor Company) is a Japanese brand owned by JVCKenwood corporation. Founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan and later as , the company is best known for introducing Japan's first televisions and for ...
in Japan and
Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is an independent record label which specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group. Its Latin name ''ha ...
in France and in the Netherlands. For this album, Céu received a
Latin Grammy The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been r ...
nomination for "
Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...
" in 2006 and a
Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
nomination for
Best Contemporary World Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album was an honor presented to recording artists between 2004 and 2011 for quality contemporary world music albums. The Grammy Awards, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and original ...
in 2008. In 2009, her critically acclaimed second album ''
Vagarosa ''Vagarosa'' is the second album of Brazilian singer/songwriter Céu. It was produced by Urban Jungle in 2009. Released on 7 July 2009 by Six Degrees Records in the USA/UK/Germany and by Universal Music in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), ...
'' reached No. 2 on the US Billboard's World Music charts. The album has since been nominated for a 2010
Latin Grammy Award for Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album The Latin Grammy Award for Best Portuguese Language Contemporary Pop Album is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in th ...
. In 2010, Céu was invited by
Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...
to record a version of "Tempo de Amor" for ''
The Imagine Project ''The Imagine Project'' is the forty-sixth and latest studio album by American jazz pianist Herbie Hancock released on June 22, 2010. Prominent guests include John Legend, India Arie, Seal, Dave Matthews, Jeff Beck, Chaka Khan, Tedeschi & Tr ...
'' album. In 2011, she contributed a version of the track "It's a Long Way" in collaboration with Apollo Nove and N.A.S.A. for the
Red Hot Organization Red Hot Organization (RHO) is a not-for-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture. Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilati ...
's most recent charitable album ''
Red Hot + Rio 2 ''Red Hot + Rio 2'' is a collaborative album released June 28, 2011 as part of the Red Hot Organization's series of tribute music records that aim to raise money for HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. The album aimed to pay homage to the influenc ...
''. The album is a follow-up to the 1996 ''
Red Hot + Rio ''Red Hot + Rio'' is a compilation album produced by Béco Dranoff and Paul Heck as part of the Red Hot AIDS Benefit Series intended to promote AIDS awareness. This installment is a contemporary tribute to the bossa nova sound, especially the mu ...
''. In 2012, Céu received her third
Latin Grammy The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been r ...
nomination for "Best Contemporary Brazilian Pop Album" for her third album ''
Caravana Sereia Bloom ''Caravana Sereia Bloom'' is the third studio album by Brazilian singer-songwriter Céu. It was released in 2012 Worldwide. Track listing Personnel Credits for ''Caravana Sereia Bloom'' adapted from liner notes. ;Musicians * Céu - vocals ...
''. In 2014, she released her first live DVD/CD entitled ''Céu – Ao Vivo'' in Brazil. The concert was filmed in August 2014 in
São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
and contains 15 tracks in total, including the never before released cover versions of all-time classics "Piel Canela" and "Mais Uma Noite de Amor", behind the scenes'' footage of the band and more. ''Céu – Ao Vivo'' also includes live versions of Céu's greatest hits, "Lenda", "Malemolência", "10 Contados", "Cangote" and "Baile de Ilusão". In 2016, she released her fourth studio album named Tropix. She received critical acclaim from such publications as
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
and
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
. She also won, in the same year, her first
Latin Grammy The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been r ...
in the Best Portuguese Language Contemporary Pop Album category. Her album ''APKÁ'' was considered one of the 25 best Brazilian albums of the second half of 2019 by the
São Paulo Association of Art Critics SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U. ...
.


Trivia

* ''Céu'' (''céu'') means "sky" and "heaven" in
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
. * The song "Malemolência" was featured on the soccer game by
EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...
, ''
FIFA 08 ''FIFA 08'' (titled ''FIFA Soccer 08'' in North America ) is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released on all popular gaming formats in September 2007 in Eur ...
''. *
Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
has promoted her album in its coffeehouses through its
Hear Music Hear Music was a record label that was founded in 2007 in a partnership between Concord Music Group and Starbucks. Hear Music began as a catalog company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1990 before being purchased by Starbucks in 1999. Conce ...
Debut CD series. She was the first international artist chosen by Starbucks for promotion. * Céu performed at the opening ceremony of the 2007
Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...
. * In 2008 Céu formed the São Paulo collective Sonantes with Brazilian musicians and producers Rica Amabis, Gui Amabis, Pupillo, and Dengue. * Céu is one of the relatively few Brazilian artists who has performed at the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. ...
(2010). * Between 2013 and 2014 Céu performed a series of concerts in Brazil to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the release of
Bob Marley and the Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as The Wailers, and prior to that The Wailing Rudeboys, The Wailing Wailers and The Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert ...
’ legendary album ''
Catch a Fire ''Catch a Fire'' is the fifth studio album by the reggae band The Wailers (aka Bob Marley and the Wailers), released in April 1973. It was their first album released by Island Records. After finishing a UK tour with Johnny Nash, they had star ...
''. * She is the second cousin of
Maria Casadevall Maria Carolina Casadevall Gonzaga (born 24 July 1987) is a Brazilian actress. Career Casadevall began working as an advertising actress, making her first commercial at age 16. Soon after began to dedicate to the scenic studies of interpretat ...
(a popular Brazilian actress with more than 13 years of career). She is the eldest of the two cousins (Céu is 7 years older than Casadevall).Gshow: Confira lista de famosos que são primos e você nem imagina
/ref>


Discography

* ''
Céu Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças, known professionally as Céu (; born 17 April 1980), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter whose first American album was released on the Six Degrees Records label in April 2007. Career life She was born in São Pa ...
'' (2005) * ''Remixed EP'' (2007) * ''
Vagarosa ''Vagarosa'' is the second album of Brazilian singer/songwriter Céu. It was produced by Urban Jungle in 2009. Released on 7 July 2009 by Six Degrees Records in the USA/UK/Germany and by Universal Music in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), ...
'' (2009) * ''
Caravana Sereia Bloom ''Caravana Sereia Bloom'' is the third studio album by Brazilian singer-songwriter Céu. It was released in 2012 Worldwide. Track listing Personnel Credits for ''Caravana Sereia Bloom'' adapted from liner notes. ;Musicians * Céu - vocals ...
'' (2012) * ''Céu – Ao Vivo'' (2014) * '' Tropix'' (2016) * ''Apká!'' (2019) * ''Um Gosto de Sol'' (2021)


Awards and nominations


References


External links


Official Web Site

"Céu's Brazilian Melting Pot"

"Singer Ceu brings sexy back to Brazilian music"

"CéU: From Brazil with Love"



Urban Jungle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceu 1980 births Living people Bossa nova singers Música Popular Brasileira singers Singers from São Paulo Latin Grammy Award winners 21st-century Brazilian singers 21st-century Brazilian women singers Brazilian soul singers Six Degrees Records artists Women in Latin music