Elza Gomes da Conceição

Elza Gomes da Conceição was born in the Moça Bonita favela of Rio de Janeiro. Forced into child marriage at twelve and having her first child at thirteen, she worked as a maid and survived hunger. In 1953, she entered Ary Barroso's radio talent show wearing oversized clothes pinned with safety pins; when Barroso asked mockingly, "What planet are you from?", she famously replied: "From the same planet as you, Mr. Barroso: Planet Hunger." She won first prize.

Soares revolutionized samba with her unique Louis Armstrong-like raspy scatting, fast syncopation, and jazz brass inflections. Her tumultuous relationship and marriage to Brazilian football legend Mané Garrincha made them targets of severe harassment from conservative Brazilian society and the military regime. In her eighties, she staged a stunning artistic renaissance with avant-garde electronic albums A Mulher do Fim do Mundo (2015) and Deus É Mulher (2018), winning Latin Grammys and singing defiantly from a throne until her dying day.