Fernanda Brandão Gonçalves da Silva (born 3 May 1983) is a Brazilian singer and dancer based in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Germany. She became famous under her stage name Laava, then with Latin pop trio, .

Early life

Brandão was born in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

, Brazil, and grew up in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. By the age of four, she had danced at the

Rio Carnival The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro ( Portuguese: ''Carnaval do Rio de Janeiro'') is a festival held every year before Lent; it is considered the biggest celebration of Carnival in the world, with two million people per day on the streets. The first ...

and sung to

samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

hits. She came from an artistic family, with her mother having produced some successful Brazilian pop songs, and her aunt and uncle being well-known singers in Brazil, and she spent much of her childhood in

recording studios A recording studio is a specialized facility for recording and mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enough to record a single sin ...

. When she was nine, she moved with her family to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany. Although her music originates from Germany, Brandão considers herself a Brazilian and often travels between the two countries.

Career

Commercial success

In Germany, she took lessons in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert dance, concert or theatrical dance which includes dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th ...

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

and voice. Brandão, who speaks Portuguese, Spanish, German and English, left school early in 2001, so as to be able to concentrate solely on her music career. She also appeared as a dancer in many music videos and live shows for major international artistes including

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican label Fonovisa where he released three Spanish albums ''Enrique Iglesias (album), Enrique ...

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

Pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...

Coolio Artis Leon Ivey Jr. (August 1, 1963 – September 28, 2022), known by his stage name Coolio, was an American rapper. He was best known for his single "Gangsta's Paradise" (1995), which won a Grammy Award, and was credited for changing the cours ...

Gabriella Cilmi Gabriella Lucia Cilmi ( ; ; born 10 October 1991) is an Australian pop singer and songwriter. A contralto, Cilmi is known for her distinctive raspy singing voice. Her debut album, '' Lessons to Be Learned'', was released in March 2008, becomin ...

Safri Duo Safri Duo is a Danish electronic percussion duo composed of Uffe Savery (born 5 April 1966) and Morten Friis (born 21 August 1968). Initially classically oriented, they later made a track mixing both tribal sound and modern electronica. Releas ...

and rock group Seed. She has participated in various stage and television appearances of artists including

Modern Talking Modern Talking was a German pop duo consisting of arranger, songwriter and producer Dieter Bohlen and singer Thomas Anders. They have been referred to as Germany's most successful pop duo, and have had a number of hit singles, reaching the to ...

, ATC, Sarah Connor and

Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, radio DJ and podcaster. He gained fame through his association with the production trio Stock Aitken Waterman, releasing the 1987 album ''Whenever You Need Somebody'', which sol ...

. As well as being a

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

for various music videos, fashion shows and events, she is a licensed fitness trainer in

aerobics Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness (Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, Muscle, muscular strength, and ...

, body pump and Tae Bo.

Laava launch

From 2002 to 2004, Brandão gained popularity as a solo singer in America, Canada and Europe, under the alias Laava, with her

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...

song ''Wherever You Are (I Feel Love)'', which was released through Edel Records in Germany and

Robbins Entertainment Robbins Entertainment LLC is an American dance music record label. It is owned by Cory Robbins and has released music by Cascada, such as their hit single " Everytime We Touch". It is also the company responsible for the ''Dance Party Like It's.. ...

in America. The track was written especially for her by Hamburg songwriters Pop Master, Sliteye and Newsky, who along with Dr. E., had created successful productions with

The Underdog Project The Underdog Project is a German Electronic dance music, dance group which launched its first album, ''It Doesn't Matter (album), It Doesn't Matter'' in 2001. Their hits include "Saturday" (not to be confused with "Saturday Night"; this was not ...

, Dune vs Trubblemaker, Rumble Rokkaz, Funky Divas, ScapeBabyz, Nana and Kenny Blake. Various

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

and

Eurodance Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...

versions of the song were released including one by Yugoslavian-German

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

producer DJ Pulsedriver, remixer for

Vengaboys Vengaboys ( ) is a Dutch Eurodance music group based in Rotterdam consisting of lead and female vocalist Kim Sasabone, female vocalist Denise van Rijswijk and male vocalists Robin Pors and Donny Latupeirissa. Created by Dutch producers Wessel va ...

Lasgo Lasgo is a Belgian electronic music group. The group formed in 2000 and was composed of Peter Luts, Dave McCullen, and singer Evi Goffin. Peter Luts confirmed on Belgian radio in 2008 that Goffin was not returning to the group, after choosing ...

Ian Van Dahl Ian Van Dahl is a Belgian vocal trance and Eurodance music project created by Christophe Chantzis and Erik Vanspauwen, with first singer Martine Theeuwen (aka Marsha), who also co-wrote and sang the song " Castles in the Sky". Cindy Mertens was ...

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

and

Kim Wilde Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer. She first gained success in 1981 with her debut single "Kids in America", which peaked at no. 2 in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Award for Best British Female solo ...

, and one by

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

's DJ Chopstick, who has produced and remixed for

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

, Deep Dish and

Sister Sledge Sister Sledge was an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consists of sisters Joni, Kim, Debbie, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. I ...

. The video for the song was directed by Swedish director,

Patric Ullaeus Patric Ullaeus is a Swedish director and photographer. He is the founder of Revolver Film Company, based in Gothenburg. With his music video "The Serpentine Offering" for Dimmu Borgir he won the "Norwegian Grammy" award Spellemannsprisen in th ...

Music collaborations

From 2004 to 2010, Brandão was a member of the Latin pop group, Hot Banditoz, known for its summer- Latino sound. The group also included

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

n (

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

) singer, Gabriela Gottschalk (former member of the Super Moonies), German singer and actor Silva Gonzalez, and from 2008,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an (

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

) singer and songwriter, José Valdes. Their debut single ''Veo, Veo'', released on

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

in 2004, became a number 3 hit in Germany, achieving gold status, and was one of five songs to stay in the German charts for more than eight weeks, during that year. This was followed by several more singles including ''Shake Your Balla'' which reached position 5 in the

Media Control Charts The GfK Entertainment charts are the official charts for music, home video, and video games in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on be ...

, and two studio albums ''Mini Disco'' in 2004 and ''Bodyshaker'' in 2007, which both reached the top 50 in Germany, and a compilation album ''Best of Holiday Club Hits'', also in 2007, all for

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

. The group were successful in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In 2010, the

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

song ''Gigolo'', sung by Brandão in Portuguese, was released as a promotional video directed by Moritz Krebs and Matthias Lorenz-Meyer. The song was produced by

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-nominated German-Asian producer Taan Newjam, who has also created music for

Omarion Omari Ishmael Grandberry (born November 12, 1984), better known by his stage name Omarion, is an American R&B singer, dancer and actor. He rose to prominence as lead vocalist of the boy band B2K, which was formed in 1998 and managed by record e ...

, and

Sugababes The Sugababes are an English girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan, and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by Ron Tom, the manager of All Saints, ...

, and co-written by Brandão and Newjam.

Television appearances

Deutscher Fernsehpreis 2012 - Fernanda Brandao 1

In 2011, Brandão was invited to be a member of the jury, in the 8th season of the popular German television talent show ''

Deutschland sucht den Superstar ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (''DSDS''; "Germany is looking for the Superstar") is a German reality talent show. Part of the ''Idol'' franchise, it was created by British media mogul Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show ''P ...

'' which aired on

RTL RTL may refer to: Media * RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company *** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels) *** List of RTL Group's radio stations ** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...

, alongside German songwriter

Dieter Bohlen Dieter Bohlen (; born Dieter Günter Bohlen on 7 February 1954) is a German songwriter, producer, singer and television personality. He first achieved fame as a member of the pop duo Modern Talking in the 1980s, and has since produced numerous G ...

and Swiss singer Patrick Nuo. She also appeared in the German edition of the French television game show '' Fort Boyard''. In the summer of 2011, Brandão was invited to appear on an Austrian season of the German music casting television series ''

Popstars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television franchise aimed to find new singing talent. Serving as a precursor to the ''Idol'' franchise, '' Popstars'' first began in New Zealand in 1999 when producer Jonathan Dowling formed the girl gr ...

'', titled "Mission Österreich" (2011), as a celebrity juror, alongside German choreographer

Detlef Soost Detlef Soost (born 2 July 1970), also using the name D! (formerly ''Dee!''), most often called Detlef D! Soost, is a German television personality, dancer and Choreography, choreographer who gained recognition as one of the jury members of the ...

, on

Puls 4 Puls 4 (''Puls vier'') is a terrestrial television channel in Austria. As its name implies, it is the fourth Austrian-wide full-service television channel, behind ORF 1, ORF 2, and ATV. History Puls 4 began as a local Vienna television station ...

German developments

In July 2011, Brandão appeared as the cover star of the German edition of men's magazine FHM, having been voted in a survey of 150,000 of its readers as "Sexiest Woman in the World 2011".

Personal Life

Brandão currently lives in Lapland, and is engaged to Roman Weber, an adventurer and survival expert, since 2021, whom she first met in 2020. She had her first child with him in April 2022, a daughter named Aurora (though needed an emergency cesarean section as she suffered severe

pre-eclampsia Pre-eclampsia is a multi-system disorder specific to pregnancy, characterized by the new onset of hypertension, high blood pressure and often a significant amount of proteinuria, protein in the urine or by the new onset of high blood pressure a ...

), and a second in 2024, a son (where she decided to give birth to back in Germany to avoid the complications from the first birth).

Discography

Solo singles

*2002: Laava ''Wherever You Are (I Feel Love)'', Club Tools/ Edel Records, Germany *2003: Laava ''Wherever You Are (I Feel Love)'',

, US *2010: Fernanda Brandao Vs. Taan Newjam ''Gigolo'', Urbasian Music/Dragonman Entertainment, Germany

Group singles

*2004: Hot Banditoz ''Veo, Veo'', Polydor Records, Polydor, Germany *2004: Hot Banditoz ''Chucu Chucu (El Tren)'', Polydor, Germany *2005: Hot Banditoz ''Shake Your Balla (1,2,3 Alarma)'', Polydor, Germany *2006: Hot Banditoz ''La Cucaracha Dance'',

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

, Germany *2006: Hot Banditoz ''I Want It That Way'', Polydor, Germany *2007: Hot Banditoz ''Que Si, Que No'', Polydor, Germany

Group albums

*2004: Hot Banditoz ''Mini Disco'', Universal, Germany *2005: Hot Banditoz ''Mini Disco'', Tancevalnij Raj, Russia *2007: Hot Banditoz ''Bodyshaker'', Universal, Germany *2007: Hot Banditoz ''Best of Holiday Club Hits'', Universal, Germany

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brandao, Fernanda 1983 births Living people Brazilian expatriates in Germany Musicians from Belo Horizonte 21st-century Brazilian singers 21st-century Brazilian women singers