Daniela Mercury is the most popular singer of axé music. The Brazilian press referred to her as the “Queen of Axé.”
Daniela Mercury was born in Salvador, Bahia, on July 28th, 1965. At eight years of age she started the dance classes which would give her a great physical condition.
Her musical career began at the age of 15 singing in small bars in the city of Bahia. She formed part of the blocos afros, such as Olodum and Muzenza, and later participated in the electric trio Eva. At 16 she was the main artist and singer of the “Trios eletricos”- sound-equipped street trucks which lead enormous crowds through the center of Bahia’s capital, Salvador – during Carnival marathons, which in the case of the trio led by Daniela, used to last four days, seven hours a day.
Together with some friends, she founded the Companhia Clic and recorded two albums for the now extinct Eldorado label.
Daniela Mercury reached stardom in Brazil and by now she has sold more than four million copies of her recordings. Mercury is the greatest phenomenon of the Brazilian music in the 90s. She is crazy about the music of the streets of Bahia, which is a mix of reggae, samba and African rhythms.
Daniela’s album, “Sol Da Liberdade”, introduced elements of house music, trip hop, rap, funk, African music, rock, and salsa into axé music, taking the genre to a completely new level.
Discography:
Daniela Mercury (a.k.a. “Swing da Cor”) (Eldorado, 1991)
O Canto da Cidade (Epic Records, 1992)
Música de Rua (Epic Records 1994)
Feijão com Arroz (Epic Records, 1996)
Sol da Liberdade (BMG, 2000)
Sou de Qualquer Lugar (BMG, 2001)
Carnaval Eletrônico (BMG, 2004)
Balé Mulato (EMI, 2005)
Canibália (Sony BMG, 2009)
Daniela Mercury & Cabeça de Nós Todos (2013)
Vinil Virtual (Biscoito Fino, 2015)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
