Simone Bittencourt De Oliveira

Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira, better known as Simone, is a Brazilian singer and a major performer of MPB who has recorded more than 31 albums.Official website:

http://www.simone.art.br/

'Rede Globo', recorded alive at the 'Globo Theater' in March 1980, was her first album to go gold. In 1979, she was present at the Festival de Música Popular Brasileira, interpreting Para Lennon & McCartney by Márcio and Lô Borges and Fernando Brant.

At the age of thirty two she became the first female singer to fill the Maracanazinho Stadium. In February 1982 15 to 20 thousand people crowded Canta Brasil to see her perform music by Milton Nascimento, Ary Barroso, Chico Buarque, Tom Jobim, Fernando Brant, Vítor Martins, Paulo César Pinheiro, Hermínio Bello de Carvalho, Isolda, Sueli Costa and Abel Silva; In December 1983 she drew a crowd of 150 thousand people to Quinta da Boa Vista to see a live transmission of Rede Globo for a New Year's TV show.

As her success grew, Simone continued to be involved in political activities. She helped raise funds with Nordeste já4, a Brazilian version of the American charity efforts We are the world or USA for Africa. The 155 chorus voices recorded a compact disc with two songs, Chega de mágoa and Seca d´água. However the effort was criticized for the poor harmonization of the voices in the performance.

Simone has performed duets with many other well known artists, including Milton Nascimento, Chico Buarque, Isolda, Roberto Carlos, Martinho da Vila, Zeca Pagodinho, João Bosco, Ivan Lins, Gal Costa, Toquinho, Cazuza, Erasmo Carlos, Gonzaguinha, Ney Matogrosso, José Luis Rodrigues, José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Pablo Milanes, Julio Iglesias, Luís Represas, Fátima Guedes, Grupo Olodum da Bahia, Meninas Cantoras de Petrópolis, Daniela Romo, Eugénia Melo e Castro, Dulce Pontes, Hebe Camargo, Marília Gabriela, Ângela Maria, and Zélia Duncan.

Her albums have sold over 7.2 million copies with twenty gold albums, sixteen platinum albums, and one diamond album. Her Christmas album, December 25, sold over 1.2 million copies.

(from wikipedia)