Google pays tribute to Cesária Évora on her 78th birthday.

27 AUGUST 2019 allAfrica.com
By Melody Chironda



Cape Town — Internet giant, Google, is celebrating what would have been the 78th birthday of Cape Verdean vocalist and recording artist, Cesária Évora.

The doodle can be seen on Google's homepage.

But who is Cesária Évora?

The singer began her career in the 1960s, where she first performed on Portuguese cruise ships and on local radio, but her career struggled to take off.

She was nicknamed - Barefoot Diva - as she often performed without shoes.

In 1985, producer José da Silva spotted her performing in Portugal and urged her to record her music in France, that is when her career really took off.



Evora sang in Morna - a musical style that is often sung in Cape Verdean Creole. Her songs had melancholic, poetic undertones. She even earned the title of "Queen of the Morna".

She gained international recognition when she released her first album, La Diva Aux Pieds Nus in 1988.

Her 1995 self-titled album Cesária earned her a Grammy Award nomination.

She won the KORA All African Music Awards in three categories: "Best Artist of West Africa", "Best Album" and "Merit of the Jury" in 1997.

She won a Grammy Award for her album Voz d'amor in the World Music category.

Évora was an ambassador for the United Nations' World Food Programme, a humanitarian food-assistance initiative that delivers food in emergency situations and works to improve nutrition in communities around the world.

In 2009, she was made a knightess of the French Legion of Honour by the French French Minister of Culture and Communications Christine Albanel, the first Cape Verdean to became one.

Cape Verde's third busiest airport was named after her and a statue now stands at the terminal.

She died aged 70, on December 17, 2011, from respiratory failure and hypertension.

What is your favorite Cesária Evora song?

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