Vanessa da Mata

Vanessa da Mata (2014)

Vanessa da Mata , with full name Vanessa Sigiane da Mata Ferreira (born February 10, 1976 in Alto Garças , Mato Grosso , Brazil ) is a Brazilian singer and composer. Her most successful titles to date have been Ai, ai, ai (2003), Boa Sorte / Good Luck (2007) and Amado (2009), all of which reached number one on the Brazilian charts. Boa Sorte / Good Luck , a joint venture with the American Ben Harper , also led the Portuguese charts. Her album Sim , released in 2007, brought Vanessa da Mata a Latin Grammy Award .

Vanessa da Mata released seven albums and 18 singles between 2002 and 2014. Her songs were also used in telenovelas and in films. Vanessa da Mata songs have also been published by singers such as Maria Bethânia and Daniela Mercury . In October 2013 she published her first novel, A Filha das Flores ("Flower Daughter").

Until the beginning of 2013, Vanessa da Mata was married to the actor Gero Pestalozzi (* 1973), who was mainly engaged in telenovelas, with whom she adopted the children Filipe, Micael and Bianca. The separation took place amicably.

biography

Vanessa da Mata was born in Alto Garças, a small town around 350 km from the capital Cuiabá , in the south of the state of Mato Grosso, and spent her youth there. On the part of her mother, she can trace her ancestors back to the local Xavante Indians. At the age of 14, she was sent alone by her parents to Uberlândia in the neighboring state of Minas Gerais in order to seek admission to a health training school.

Vanessa's heart beat more for music, and when she was 15 she made her first appearances in local clubs. In 1992 the 16-year-old moved to São Paulo and performed there with Shalla-Ball , a female reggae band. At 19, she toured Brazil as a backing vocalist with the Jamaican band Black Uhuru . She later became part of the Mafuá group . At that time she was also active as a model and basketball player .

Vanessa da Mata 2007 in the Coliseu of Lisbon

In 1997 Vanessa da Mata met the well-known singer Chico César and wrote the song A Força que nunca seca with him , which two years later became the title track of an album by the national Brazilian singer Maria Bethânia . The song was also nominated for a Latin Grammy . César published it himself on his album Mama Mundi . Vanessa da Mata managed to establish herself more and more as a songwriter. She wrote O Canto de Dona Sinhá for Maria Bethânia and Caetano Veloso , Viagem for Daniela Mercury , and together with Ana Carolina Me Sento na Rua for them. She also found employment as a backing vocalist for Bethânia, Milton Nascimento and Baden Powell .

In 2002 Vanessa da Mata was finally able to release her first own album. The song Não me deixe só was the biggest hit of the self-titled CD and reached positions 25 and 42 in the Brazilian and Portuguese charts. The songs Nossa Canção and Onde ir , both accompanying themes to telenovelas , were released as singles and also achieved notoriety. Their first album sold more than 100,000 times, which is rewarded with a gold disc in Brazil.

In 2004, Vanessa da Mata's second major album, Essa Boneca tem Manual, was released . The single Ai, ai, ai , an accompanying theme of the telenovela Belíssima , was the song most played by Brazilian radio stations in 2006 and became their first number one success. In Sweden the song reached the 13th place in the charts. In Brazil it was also recognized as “best song” in 2006 with a major Prêmio Multishow , a prize from the entertainment channel Multishow of the Brazilian media group Grupo Globo . From this album three more tracks were released as singles. The album went platinum for more than 250,000 units sold.

Her third album, Sim , was her biggest success to date, earning her a Latin Grammy for "Best Contemporary Brazilian Pop Album". The title Boa Sorte / Good Luck , sung in both Portuguese and English and a joint effort with American singer Ben Harper , became a number one hit in both Brazil and Portugal. The romantic ballad Amado , an accompanying theme of the telenovela A Favorita , also climbed to the top in Brazil. In addition, Boa Sorte / Good Luck and Amado were each awarded a Prêmio Multishow for “Best Song” in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Some of Sim's tracks were also released by Sony as part of the CD Zero series in the form of an EP as an economy version of the album. The album Sim achieved sales of over 600,000 copies and was awarded double platinum and gold.

In 2009 Vanessa da Mata released a CD and DVD each with the title Multishow ao Vivo - Vanessa da Mata , which are built around a live concert by the mostly barefoot singer in the picturesque spa town of Paraty in the west of the state of Rio de Janeiro, and many are not otherwise include published tracks and guest appearances by other stars such as reggae duo Sly & Robbie . The DVD offers additional titles and features such as interviews and videos.

In 2010 Vanessa da Mata released the CD Bicicletas, Bolos e Outras Alegrias from which the single O tal casal was released in advance. Other singles from this album were Te Amo and As Palavras which was released as "Mister Jam Remix".

From April to June 2013 she went on a well-attended tour through the country sponsored by Nivea , on which she re-edited songs by Antônio Carlos "Tom" Jobim . Her performance in Brasília was televised. In July she released the corresponding album Vanessa da Mata canta Tom Jobim with 16 songs, of which Fotografia and Falando de Amor were also released as singles.

In March 2014, their album Segue o Som was released, of which the track number was released as a single in January. The album contains 13 original compositions and the John Denver number Sunshine on my Shoulders.