Virgínia Rodrigues (born Salvador, Bahia, March 31, 1964) is a Brazilian singer. Her music has an influence of classical music, samba, and jazz, and her lyrics reference Candomblé and

Umbanda Umbanda () is a syncretic Afro-Brazilian religion that blends traditional African religions with Roman Catholicism, Spiritism, and Indigenous American beliefs. Although some of its beliefs and most of its practices existed in the late 19th ce ...

entities.

Biography

Virgínia Rodrigues was born in Salvador,

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest b ...

on March 31, 1964. She had started her career by singing in both Catholic and Protestant church choirs. In 1997, she was invited by the director Márcio Meirelles to participate in the play ''Bye Bye Pelô,'' alongside the Bando de Teatro Olodum. During rehearsals, she discovered by

Caetano Veloso Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encomp ...

. Her first album '' Sol Negro'' (1997) was produced by

Celso Fonseca Celso Fonseca (born November 15, 1956) is a Brazilian composer, producer, guitarist and singer. He is noted as part of the Música popular brasileira since the 1980s, initially as accompanist and composer, then producer, and since the mid–1990s a ...

and had arrangements by Eduardo Souto Neto, and the participation of Djavan,

Gilberto Gil Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira (; born 26 June 1942), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician, known for both his musical innovation and political activism. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil's Minister of Culture in the administration ...

, and

Milton Nascimento Milton Nascimento (; born October 26, 1942), also known as Bituca, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has toured across the world. Nascimento has won five Grammy Awards, including Best World Music Album for his alb ...

. It was released on the

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record la ...

label and was well received in the United States and Europe. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' of London described Rodrigues as "... The new diva of Brazilian music". The album also received good reviews in ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' and the magazine ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

''. Rodrigues second album, ''Nós'' (2000), paid homage to the blocos afros of Salvador, featuring songs of

Ilê Aiyê ) , background color = #000000 , foundation = , colors = , symbol = , location = Liberdade , president = Antonio Carlos "Vovô" dos Santos , patron = Mãe Hilda Jitolu , year ...

Olodum Olodum is a ''bloco-afro'' from Salvador's carnival, in Bahia, Brazil. It was founded by the percussionist Neguinho do Samba. Banda Olodum (Olodum's Band) Olodum is widely credited with developing the music style known as samba reggae and for ...

Timbalada Timbalada is an Afro-Brazilian musician group from Candeal, Salvador, Brazil. It was founded by drummer Carlinhos Brown, and the composer and percussionist Tony Mola . The musical style is between samba reggae and axé, with strong influenc ...

, Araketu and Afreketê. This album was also well received, with reviews in ''

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 d ...

'' and

All-Music Guide AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. Her third album, ''Mares Profundos'' (2003), was released on the German label

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

and features 11 African-sambas composed between 1962 and 1966 by guitarist Baden Powell and poet

Vinicius de Moraes Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed O Poetinha ("The little poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwright ...

. The program closes with samba "Lapinha" (Baden-Paulo Cesar Pinheiro). Her fourth album, ''Recomeço'' (2008) was released by Biscoito Fino and features poetry by

Chico Buarque Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic, ...

. Rodrigues regularly appears at festivals of jazz and world music throughout the world, participating in several world tours. Former U.S. president

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

once said that she was the singer who he liked best in the world and mentioned her in his memoir ''My Life''.

Discography

;Albums *'' Sol Negro'' (1997) * ''Nós'' (2000) * ''Mares Profundos'' (2003) * ''Recomeço'' (2008) * ''Mama Kalunga'' (2015) * ''Cada Voz E Uma Mulher'' (2019) ;Contributing artist * '' Unwired: Latin America'' (2001,

World Music Network World Music Network is a UK-based record label specializing in world music. The World Music Network website features news, reviews, live music listings, and guide sections on world music. It also features an online "Battle of the Bands" competit ...

)

Filmography

References

External links

Listen

Virginia Rodrigues Matrix Page
* Michael Church

''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 12 March 2004. Living people 21st-century Brazilian women singers 21st-century Brazilian singers 1964 births 20th-century Brazilian women singers 20th-century Brazilian singers {{Brazil-singer-stub