Clara Nunes

Clara Nunes was a Brazilian samba and MPB singer, regarded as one of the greatest of her generation. She became the first female singer in Brazil to sell over 100,000 copies, and her achievements in the samba genre earned her the title of Queen of Samba.

Clara Francisca Gonalves was born on August 12, 1942, in Cedro, Paraopeba, Minas Gerais,1 where she lived until the age of 16. She was the youngest child of Manuel Pereira de Arajo, and Amlia Gonalves Nunes. Her father was a joiner in the Cedro amp Cachoeira textile mill, and was known in the town as Man Serrador.2 He was also a violeiro and a participant in the local Festival of the Three Kings. Manuel died on 1944, and soon after, the young Clara would also lose her mother. Orphaned, she would be raised by her older sister Dindinha and brother Jos . At that time, Clara attended catechism classes in the Church of the Eucharistic Crusade. There, she also sang litanies in Latin in the church choir.

Source: Wikipedia