Loalwa Braz (Loalva, 3 June 1953 – 19 January 2017) was a Brazilian singer … Read Full Bio ↴Loalwa Braz (Loalva, 3 June 1953 – 19 January 2017) was a Brazilian singer and songwriter. She was better known as providing the lead vocals for the French pop group Kaoma in their worldwide hit "Lambada". She was fluent in four languages, having recorded songs in her native Portuguese, as well as in Spanish, French and English.

Loalwa was born in Rio de Janeiro to a family of musicians: her father was an orchestra leader and her mother, a popular and classical pianist. She learned to play the piano at the age of four and started singing at 13. She has lived in Paris since 1985 and in Geneva since 2010.

She grew up surrounded by Brazil’s rhythms, which shine through her songs. Her natural gifts are strengthened by hard work. Loalwa quickly obtained many awards, and started performing at Rio’s most prestigious night clubs. Her talent granted her the recognition of Brazil’s pop music greatest artists Gilberto Gil, Tim Maia, Alcione, Maria Bethânia, Emílio Santiago, Gal, Costa, Caetano Veloso, etc.; who became her stage or recording co-workers from 1975 to 1985. She moved to Paris in 1985, after her success at the Palais des Sports, with the show “Brésil en Fête”.

Loalwa appeared in the major show business venues: Paradis Latin, Méridien (Paris), Olympia (88 and 92), TLP Dejazet, New Morning, Zenith, Madison Square Garden, London Palladium, Waldorf Astoria. Loalwa provided vocals for the Kaoma single Lambada, which became a worldwide hit:

Over 25 million records sold.
Over 80 gold and platinum records.

Lambada's success also brought new attention to Latin music in non-Latin regions, making Loalwa one of the 20 most listened-to voices in the whole world.

Loalwa composed and sang two songs for the sound-track of the movie “Le Roi Desperados” – produced by French TV studio Canal + - and performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, in Abbey Road, for the sound-track of the French movie “Dis-Moi Oui”; directed by Alexandre Arcady and music by Phillipe Sarde. Many songs have marked her career: Chorando se Foi (Lambada), Tago Mago, Dançando Lambada, Mélodie d’Amour, La Media Noche, etc. Loalwa's adaptation of Stevie Wonder’s song “Another Star” (Outro Lugar) into Portuguese demonstrates her skills, and that is why great names of world music are interested in her compositions and arrangements.

Solo album: 2003.
Recomeçar (To Recommence); a mosaic of songs written by her, in association with composers and arrangers of diverse musical cultures.
Recomeçar, from romantic mood to hot rhythms, with:
Carlinhos Brown (Brazil)
Lincoln Olivetti (Brazil)
Gilson Peranzetta (Brazil)
Jacky Arconte (Caribbean)
Benjamin Constant (France)
Fabien Nataf (France)
Loalwa is a member of the Arts, Sciences and Literature French Academy; she was decorated with the silver medal (Prix Thorlet) in 2003.
New solo album: released 2006. Another album made with fine musical contributions. A trip between romanticism and the explosion of rhythms which characterize the artist's musical style. A new title enriched the singer's career, who had just been honorably named Ambassadress of the Association Francophone pour la Promotion de l'Esprit Sportif (AFPES) all over the world.

In the early hours of January 19th, 2017, the police of Rio de Janeiro found her body in a burnt-out car next to a road in Saquarema, 73 kilometers from Rio. According to witnesses, two men had been seen earlier in Loalwa's home, not far from the place where the vehicle was found.