This was published 7 years ago
Loalwa Braz: sang the vocals on worldwide hit Lambada
Loalwa Braz, who has been found dead aged 63, sang the vocals on Lambada, the Latin dance tune that was a worldwide hit in 1989.
It was performed by Kaoma, a French-Brazilian group that played reggae and salsa and which recruited the Rio-born Loalwa Braz when she was singing jazz in Paris nightclubs.
Singer Loalwa Braz Vieira performs in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2013.Credit: Getty
The song's summery feel, and a video which promised – somewhat surprisingly – that music could overcome parental disapproval of interracial romance, made it a global smash. It reached No. 4 in Britain, with the band appearing on Top of the Pops, but it got to No. 1 in 11 other countries, selling more than 4 million copies in Europe alone (a record for its label CBS). In France, it was No. 1 for three months and the bestselling track of the year.
Soon after, however, it emerged that the group had not sought permission from the original writers of the song. This was a little-known Bolivian band, Los Kjarkas, who in 1982 had based their much slower tune Llorando se fue on a traditional Andean melody. They successfully sued Kaoma and were subsequently credited.
Although a one-hit wonder, the Lambada is still firmly embedded in popular culture. In 1998, the Spice Girls name-checked it in their hit Spice Up Your Life and in 2011 it was sampled by Jennifer Lopez for what proved to be her biggest single, On the Floor. It has also recently been cited as an inspiration by Clean Bandit, the British group that was at No. 1 at Christmas with Rockabye.
Loalwa Braz was born in Jacarepagua, a middle-class district of Rio de Janeiro, on June 3, 1953. Music was in her blood – her father was a dance band leader and her mother a classical pianist – and she began to learn the piano at four.
By the time she was 13, she was performing and in her 20s she worked with some of the biggest names in Brazilian music, including Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso and his sister Maria Bethania. In 1985, she moved to Paris, where she married and had two children.
Kaoma released an LP, Worldbeat, in 1990 and had several minor hits thereafter without replicating the success of Lambada. Braz toured with the group for a decade before embarking on a solo career that included several albums of her own which showcased her knowledge of four languages.
She was said by friends to be a warm but fragile person who had been taken advantage of by others and who had got herself into financial difficulty despite the money she had made. Latterly she had lived in Geneva but she had recently returned to Brazil, where she owned a small hotel near Rio, to be treated for cancer.
Last week her body was found in a burnt-out car near the hotel. She had seemingly been the victim of a robbery gone awry.
Telegraph, London