Ângela Maria

Angela Maria (13 May 1929 – 29 September 2018), the stage name of Abelim Maria da Cunha, was a Brazilian singer and actress. She was very popular during the 1950s, being elected "Queen of the Radio" in 1954.

She was born in Macaé, Rio de Janeiro, in 1929.She began her career singing in the choir of the church and began to participate, in secret, of freshmen programs. Among them the famous Ary Barroso Show on Radio Tupi, later consolidating herself on radio Mayrink Veiga. In 1951, recorded the first 78 RPM album with the songs "I'm happy" and "When someone goes away".After that, the singer devoted herself as a great interpreter of the Brazilian national genre "samba-canção", alongside Maysa, Nora Ney and Dolores Duran.

Some of her greatest hits were "Babalu", "Lonely Girl" and "Ave Maria do Morro".She also performed as an actress, participating in famous movies such as "Rio Zona Norte" and "Carnaval Barra Limpa". In 1996, she released the CD "Amigos", with participations of Roberto Carlos, Maria Bethânia, Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque, and other great names of the MPB (Brazilian Popular Music). The work was a success and sold more than 500,000 copies.Her latest studio work, Disco de Ouro, was released in 2003.The singer, affectionately called by President Getulio Vargas "Sapoti" – a nickname that would accompany her throughout the career – recorded in whole 114 albums, inspiring other singers like Elis Regina, Clara Nunes and Milton Nascimento.

Angela Maria dies of cardiac arrest on 29 September 2018 in Rio de Janeiro at the age of 89.