Elba Ramalho

She sweeps across the stage at breathtaking speed with her dancers and background singers – with the fitness she acquired as a handball player. But Elba Ramalho – a former Playboy cover girl – is breathtaking in other respects too. It’s no coincidence that her first band was called As Brasas (“heat”). It was there that she started off as a teenager with forró, the feverously fast dance music that conquered Rio de Janeiro from the northeast. And although she went to the city at the foot of the Sugarloaf Mountain as an actress and dancer, it didn’t take her long to join Brazil’s star elite as a singer. She sang the gems of musica popular Brasileira with great virtuosity, and combined the accordion of forró with rocky, funky Caribbean and African rhythms. Brazil’s answer to Tina Turner is now at the peak of her dazzling 25-year career, which she started as a drummer in an all-women band. She is a glamorous and highly versatile singer who gives a provocative stage show in an amazingly short skirt.

On the stage Elba Ramalho is self-assured and inviting – and completely her own woman.

Daniela Mercury, who was originally announced to appear on this date, will not be performing. We look forward to welcoming Elba Ramalho.