Gal Costa

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Gal Costa


Img_capt = Gal Costa in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1979
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1945|9|26
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
Died =
Origin =
Instrument =
Voice_type =
Genre = Música Popular Brasileira, Tropicália, Pop
Occupation = Solo singer-songwriter, musician, writer
Years_active = 1965–present
Label =
Associated_acts =
URL = http://www.galcosta.com.br

Gal Costa (born Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos on September 26, 1945 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil), is a popular singer in Brazil.

Influenced by music from a young age by her record store owner father, Costa became one of Brazil's foremost female Tropicalismo movement singers and guitar players during the late 1960s and 70s. Along with her friend Maria Bethânia, she became a political activist often coming into conflict with Brazil's military government when dissent in music was censored in 1968.

Fellow musician Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethânia's brother, introduced her to Gilberto Gil and Tom Zé in 1963, who managed to secure her a recording deal in São Paulo for her debut album "Domingo" with Caetano Veloso. Her eponymous solo debut in 1969 is considered a Tropicalismo classic, containing songs by Veloso, Gil, Zé, and Jorge Ben. While this album balanced between Brazilian stylizations and North-American psychedelic influences, her follow-up album released the same year found her, like Gil, diving head-first into the latter. Her next album, "Legal", was not as out-there as its predecessor, and a live album the following year again balanced smooth Brazilian sounds with heavy rock. In 1973, the cover of Costa's album "Índia" was censored due to her wearing a risqué red bikini. Costa has recorded songs composed by a number of Brazil's most popular songwriters such as Tom Jobim, Ben, and Erasmo Carlos. In 1982 the single "Festa Do Interior" from the double album "Fantasia" became her biggest ever hit, going multi-platinum by the end of the year. Costa appeared in the 1995 film "The Mandarin" ("Mandarim, O") as the singer Carmen Miranda. She has recorded songs in Portuguese, Spanish and English.

Discography

*1965: "Maria da Graça" (EP)
*1967: "Domingo"
*1969: "Gal Costa"
*1969: "Gal"
*1970: "Legal"
*1971: "Gal a Todo Vapor" (live)
*1973: "Índia"
*1974: "Cantar"
*1975: "Gal Canta Caymmi"
*1977: "Caras e Bocas"
*1978: "Água Viva"
*1979: "Gal Tropical"
*1980: "Aquarela do Brasil"
*1981: "Fantasia"
*1982: "Minha Voz"
*1983: "Baby Gal"
*1983: "Trilha Sonora do Filme 'Gabriela"'
*1984: "Profana"
*1985: "Bem Bom"
*1987: "Lua de Mel Como o Diabo Gosta"
*1990: "Plural"
*1992: "Gal"
*1994: "O Sorriso do Gato de Alice"
*1995: "Mina D'Água do Meu Canto"
*1997: "Acústico MTv" (live)
*1998: "Aquele Frevo Axé"
*1999: "Gal Costa Canta Tom Jobim Ao Vivo" (live)
*2001: "Gal de Tantos Amores"
*2002: "Gal Bossa Tropical"
*2004: "Todas as Coisas e Eu"
*2005: "Hoje"
*2006: "Gal Costa Live at the Blue Note"
*2006: "Gal Costa Ao Vivo"

Filmography

*1995: "Mandarim, O"

External links

* [http://www.galcosta.com.br/ Official website]
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Persondata
NAME=Costa, Gal
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Burgos, Maria da Graça Costa Penna
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Solo singer-songwriter, musician, writer
DATE OF BIRTH=September 26, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH=Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=