Shoes

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Gender

Female

Birthday

1946-06-18

Place of Birth

Santo Amaro da Purificação, Bahia, Brazil

Maria Bethânia

Biography

Maria Bethânia Viana Teles Veloso (born 18 June 1946) is a Brazilian singer and songwriter. Born in Santo Amaro, Bahia, she started her career in Rio de Janeiro in 1964 with the show "Opinião" ("Opinion"). Due to its popularity, with performances all over the country, and the popularity of her 1965 single "Carcará", the artist became a star in Brazil. Bethânia is the sister of the singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso and of the writer-songwriter Mabel Velloso, as well as being aunt of the singers Belô Velloso and Jota Velloso. The singer has released 50 studio albums in 47 years of career, and is among the 10 best-selling music artists in Brazil, having sold more than 26 million records. Bethânia was ranked in 2012, by Rolling Stone Brasil magazine, as the fifth-biggest voice of Brazilian music. Bethânia is the sixth out of eight children born into the family of José Telles Veloso (Seu Zeca), a government official, and Claudionor Viana Telles Veloso (Dona Canô), a housewife. The name Maria Bethânia was chosen by her brother Caetano Veloso after the homonymous hit song written by composer Capiba and famous at the time in the voice of Nélson Gonçalves. In her childhood, she had aspirations to become an actress. However, her mother was a musician, so music was prevalent in the Veloso household. Though Bethânia was born in Santo Amaro da Purifição, her family moved to Salvador, Bahia when she was 13. The move allowed her to experience the bohemian, intellectual circles of the city, as well as to visit theaters. When she was 16, her brother Caetano Veloso invited her to sing in a film for which he was producing the soundtrack, but she refused. Nevertheless, the film's director, Álvaro Guimarães, liked her voice and invited the young musician to perform in the 1963 Nélson Rodrigues's musical Boca de Ouro. This time Bethânia accepted, and for the first time in her life she went on stage to sing for an audience, opening the play performing a samba by Ataulfo Alves. That same year, Bethãnia and her sister met singers Gilberto Gil and Gal Costa; Caetano had been invited to put on an MPB show to inaugurate the Teatro Vila Velha. The four artists got together and, in 1964, staged Nós, por exemplo (We, for example). The show was a success and was presented again twenty months later, with the participation of singer-songwriter Tom Zé. That same year, the group mounted another show called Nova Bossa Velha e Velha Bossa Nova (New Old Bossa and Old New Bossa). Still in that year, directed by Caetano and Gil, Bethânia performed another musical, this time on her own, called Mora na Filosofia (Lives in Philosophy). She began performing again with her brother, as well as Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, and Tom Zé, at the opening of the Vila Velha Theater in the next year. During one of these performances, the bossa nova musician Nara Leão offered her an opportunity to take her place in a series of performances titled "Opinião". ... Source: Article "Maria Bethânia" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Known for

Champs-Elysées

Champs-Elysées

See more
Le Grand Échiquier

Le Grand Échiquier

Le Grand Échiquier is a French variety television program created and presented by Jacques Chancel. It aired at 8:30 pm on the first channel of the ORTF from January 12, 1972 to July 12, 1972, then on the second color channel of the ORTF from September 1972 to December 1974, and finally on Antenne 2 from January 1975 to December 21, 1989. The program returned to France 2 on December 20, 2018 and is hosted by Anne-Sophie Lapix.

See more
Criança Esperança

Criança Esperança

See more
The Egg

The Egg

Writer and poet Clarice Lispector investigates and develops the old question of what came first, the egg or the chicken.

See more
Todo Mundo no Rio com Shakira

Todo Mundo no Rio com Shakira

On the iconic sands of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Shakira sets Copacabana Beach ablaze in the third edition of “Todo Mundo no Rio”. Before a historic crowd of 2 million people, the Colombian superstar celebrates three decades of hits in an electrifying performance that bridges her new album, “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran,” with the timeless classics that defined her career. Featuring guest appearances by Brazilian music icons and a high-tech visual spectacle, the night transforms the coastline into the stage for an epic celebration of power, music, and the artist’s unbreakable connection with Brazil.

See more
Mulher 80

Mulher 80

Mulher 80 emerged as a result of the success of 'Malu Mulher' (1979), a miniseries starring Regina Duarte, which addressed the female situation in Brazilian society at that time. The main focus of the special was the female presence in music, honouring the singers and songwriters of MPB with musical numbers and testimonials.

See more
Toquinho Maravilhoso

Toquinho Maravilhoso

The documentary narrates the life of Toquinho, one of the greatest Brazilian artists, a musician who transcends the barriers of time and language with his sensitivity. A story that shapes Brazilian popular music.

See more
Tropicália

Tropicália

Set against the turbulent atmosphere of the 1960s, Tropicália is a feature length documentary exploring the Brazilian artistic movement known as Tropicália, and the struggle its artists endured to protect their right to freely express revolutionary thought against the traditional Brazilian music of that time.

See more
O Canto Livre de Nara Leão

O Canto Livre de Nara Leão

Nara Leão revolutionized Brazilian music, broke prejudices, confronted the military dictatorship, opened paths for women. All this without changing the tone of her voice.

See more
Chico & Caetano

Chico & Caetano

See more
Vento Bravo

Vento Bravo

See more
Karingana - Licença para contar

Karingana - Licença para contar

Maria Bethânia takes her poetic narrative to Mozambique for the first time. The interpreter presents excerpts of works connected by different forms of expression in the Portuguese language. With testimonies from Mia Couto, José Agualusa and several Mozambican and Angolan writers and literary critics, the documentary shows the development of literature in these countries, delving on its importance during the anti-colonial resistance, the connection with native languages, the oral traditions and the influence of Brazilian writers.

See more
O Nome Dela é Gal

O Nome Dela é Gal

A four-part biography on the life of the Brazilian singer Gal Costa, from her humble beginning singing in the streets of Salvador, where she became friends with many artists who would be other great names in Brazilian music in the following decades to her 50th career anniversary in 2015.

See more
Chico: Brazilian Artist

Chico: Brazilian Artist

Chico Buarque is a constant presence in Brazil's art scene and makes up its citizen's popular culture. This wealth in music, poems, theater and novels has been created over the last 50 years and in this film Chico Buarque converses about his memories, shows, daily life, work methods, creative process, in summary all his trajectory. The musician’s search for his German brother, whom he never got to meet, serves as one of the axis for the narrative.

See more
Ritas

Ritas

It explores Rita Lee's personal life and her creative process, revealing her musical talent and her ability to transform on stage. Rita herself guides the narrative through past interviews she gave throughout her career and current testimonies.

See more