Died On This Date (January 19, 2017) Loalwa Braz / Brazilian Singer; Sang Lead On Hit Single, “Lambada”
themusicsover Loalwa Braz
June 3, 1953 – January 19, 2017
Loalwa Braz was a Brazilian singer and songwriter who is perhaps best remembered for singing lead on Kaoma‘s international hit of 1989, “Lambada.” Although Kaoma was a French group, Braz sang the song’s Portuguese lyrics on the record, which went on to sell over 5 million copies worldwide and help break Latin music into many non-Latin markets around the world. Born into a musical family, Braz took up the piano at the age of four. Singing followed, and before she knew it, she was performing in the hottest clubs of Rio de Janeiro. After the success of “Lambada,” Braz performed all over the world and was invited to collaborate with many top Brazilian and European recording artists. She continued to record and perform up until the time of her death. In the morning hours of January 19, 2017, Loalwa Braz, age 63, was discovered deceased by Rio police in a burnt up car about 45 miles outside of the city. Actual cause of death and other circumstances surrounding her death were not immediately released.
Thanks to Harold Lepidus for the assist.
Greg Trooper was a singer-songwriter who, besides building up a hefty library of his own releases, had songs recorded by Vince Gill, Steve Earle, Maura O’Connell, Robert Earle Keen, and Billy Bragg, among others. Born in Neptune, New Jersey, Trooper spent much of his teenage years frequenting folk venues of Greenwich Village. It served him well. After a detour to Kansas for college, he settled in New York City where he spent more than a decade playing clubs, pitching his songs, and recording his first couple of albums. By the mid ’90s, Trooper was living in Nashville where he released several more albums, working with producers like Buddy Miller and Garry Tallent of the E Street Band. Throughout his career, he released more than a dozen albums – the studio albums at least, to critical acclaim. During the summer of 2015, Greg Trooper was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer which took his life on January 15, 2017. He was 61.
