Cape Verdean singer Mário Marta, who took the theme to this year’s Song Festival Belongdied on Thursday, April 16, aged 53, in Lisbon.
“Mário Marta stood out as an artist of great sensitivity and dedication to Cape Verdean music, earning the respect of the public, inside and outside the country”, the family told the Lusa agency, in a message in which they classify the death as “an irreparable loss for national music and culture”.
Born on August 30, 1972, in Guinea-Bissau, son of a Guinean father and Cape Verdean mother, Mário Marta was raised in São Vicente and was known for his connection with mornas and coladeiras, genres of traditional Cape Verdean music.
According to a biographical note available on the official website of the song festival, Mário Marto “grew up surrounded by music and was strongly influenced mainly by his aunt Eunice Marta and by artists such as his uncle Tonecas Marta, Maiúca MArta, Bana, Zéze di nha Reinalda, Tito Paris, Illdo lobo, Titina, Paulino Vieira and the legendary Cesária Évora, with whom he lived and sang for many years, as a child, at his aunt and uncle’s house in the city of Mindelo”.
He was part of the gospel group SHOUT!, founded by Sara Tavares, and was Djodje’s backing vocalist, accompanying him both in the studio and on world tours. His solo career began in 2019, standing out with the singles Creole e Hold onpartnering with Lura on the latter.
Leave a Reply