Kaoma was a French-Brazilian band formed in 1988 by
Loalwa Braz
Loalwa Braz Vieira (3 June 1953 – 19 January 2017) was a Brazilian vocalist and musician, best known for providing the lead vocals for the French-Brazilian recording act Kaoma for their 1989 cover of the hit "" (by Ulysses Hermosa, lead singer ...
(lead vocals), Chyco Dru (bass), Jacky Arconte (guitar), Jean-Claude Bonaventure (keyboard), Michel Abihssira (drums and percussion) and Fania (backing vocals). Dru is from
Martinique, Arconte from
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...
, and Braz from Brazil.
Career
In 1989, they had a major chart-topping international hit with their dance music single "
Lambada", a direct cover of the 1986 dance hit "
Chorando Se Foi" by Brazilian singer-songwriter Márcia Ferreira, which itself was a legally authorized
Portuguese-translated rendition of the original slow
ballad "
Llorando se fue" (1981) by
Bolivia
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, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
n group
Los Kjarkas. Given Kaoma's clear act of plagiarism and release of their single without Los Kjarkas' permission, Los Kjarkas successfully sued. "
Dançando Lambada
"Dançando Lambada" is a song by French-Brazilian group Kaoma with the Brazilian vocalist Loalwa Braz. It was the second single from Kaoma's debut album ''Worldbeat'' and followed the smash worldwide hit "Lambada
Lambada () is a dance from Sta ...
" and "
Mélodie d'amour" were the next two singles and were also hits, although they failed to earn the same success as "Lambada", which itself peaked at number 46 in the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Lambada" fared better in Europe, reaching number 4 in the
UK Singles Chart.
Also in 1989, Kaoma released their first album ''
Worldbeat'' which achieved worldwide success, becoming - along with Beto Barbosa - one of the legends of Brazilian lambada. At the
1990 Lo Nuestro Awards, Kaoma won two awards for
Pop Group of the Year and
New Pop Artist of the Year.
In 1991, Kaoma released the album ''Tribal-Pursuit'' which provided the singles "
Danca tago-mago
"Danca tago-mago" is a 1991 song recorded by French-Brazilian band Kaoma. Written by Loalwa Braz with amusic by Michel Abihssir, it was released in the summer of 1991 as the first single from their second album ''Tribal-Pursuit'', on which it app ...
" and "Moço do dende".
On January 19, 2017, Braz was found dead in her car.
Police arrested three suspects for the murder; several motives were suspected, such as a botched robbery or a revenge killing.
Discography
Singles
References
External links
Kaoma Lambada webpage
{{Authority control
Zouk musicians
French dance music groups
Brazilian dance music groups
Worldbeat groups
Epic Records artists