Biography of Simone Bittencourt

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Biografia de Simone Bittencourt
Biography of Simone Bittencourt

Singer Simone Bittencourt was born in Salvador, the capital of Bahia, at Christmas 1949. She was therefore to be baptised Natalina, but the name Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira prevailed in the final decision.

The family doctors said that the newborn Simone Bittencourt would have a characteristic common to the other women in the family: short stature – a statement that fell apart during her teenage years. The daughter of an opera singer and a pianist, Simone grew up accustomed to music.

In 1965, at the age of 16, Simone Bittencourt moved from Salvador to São Paulo with her parents. In the capital of São Paulo, Simone Bittencourt studied music and took up sport. She stood out in basketball, playing for the Brazilian national team in official competitions.

Even so, Simone Bittencourt never considered herself a great player. In the huddles before important games, she really liked to play the guitar. The other players loved her singing.

At the age of 24, Simone Bittencourt was taken by Moacir Machado for a trial at Odeon. She was so successful at the audition that she signed a contract with the record company and released her first LP, “Simone”, in 1972. In October 1973, invited by Hermínio Bello de Carvalho, she travelled to Belgium and France with the show “Panorama Brasileiro”.

Biografia de Simone Bittencourt

As soon as she returned, Madison Square (a North American production company) hired her for another three-month tour of the show, this time to Canada and the USA. In the same year, Simone Bittencourt released the LP “Brasil-Export 73 Agô Kelofé” with sambistas Roberto Ribeiro and João de Aquino, and took part in the tracks “Nem Eu”, “Coqueiro de Itapoan/João Valentão” and “Fechei a Porta” on the LP “Expo-Som 73 – Ao vivo”.

“Quatro Paredes”, the second solo LP, released in 1974, had two hits in the charts: “Bodas de Prata” and “De Frente pro Crime”, by the duo João Bosco and Aldir Blanc.

The following year, 1975, would be the year of “Gota d’água”. The disc achieved high sales figures and resulted in a concert that is still remembered today as one of the best ever given by the singer. Chico Buarque’s verses in the song “Gota d’água” gained more strength in the interpretation of Simone Bittencourt and Milton Nascimento, her guest.

“Face a Face”, “Cigarra” and “Pedaços” were the discs that followed. The disc “Pedaços” gave rise to the show of the same name, directed by Flávio Rangel, and seen throughout Brazil by more than 120,000 people. It was with romantic songs that Simone really stood out, “Começar de Novo” by Ivan Lins, for example, was the song responsible for her rise.

In 1980, she explosively re-recorded Geraldo Vandré’s “Pra Não Dizer que Não Falei das Flores”, a song that was censored for many years due to the country’s repressive policies.

Simone Bittencourt from Bahia has a lot to be proud of, after all, before her 1981 show “Amar”, no singer had ever filled the Maracanãzinho alone. In 1982, at the Morumbi Stadium, a daily audience of 15,000 people watched “Canta Brasil”, a show in which the singer took part.

The average of one album per year continued and “Delírios e Delícias”, “Desejos”, “Cristal”, “Amor e Paixão”, “Vício”, “Sedução”, “Simone Tudo por Amor”, “Liberdade”, “Raio de luz”, “Simone” (Spanish), “Sou Eu”, “La Distancia” (Spanish), “Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira”, “Dois Enamorados” (Spanish) and “25 de Dezembro” came out respectively.

In 1996, a CD with only songs by Martinho da Vila, “Café com Leite”, gave rise to personal projects, such as the show “Brasil”, which was staged at the Metropolitan in Rio de Janeiro, directed by José Possi Neto, in which Simone Bittencourt performed songs by Ari Barroso, Dorival Caymmi, Gonzaguinha and others, or the CD “Loca”, released simultaneously in Brazil and abroad in 1998, the show “Fica Comigo Esta Noite”, directed by Ney Matogrosso, with costumes by Ocimar Versolato in 2000, and finally the CDs “Seda Pura” in 2001 and “Feminino” in 2002, where she travelled through the work of various Brazilian composers.

Despite all her success, her relationship with specialised critics was not always friendly. However, with the space she has gained, Simone Bittencourt is considered an MPB star and shone on the tour of the 2004 album “Baiana da Gema”, which brought together compositions by Ivan Lins.

“Simone ao Vivo” was released on CD and DVD in 2005, with some of the songs already recognised in the singer’s career and the participation of Ivan Lins, Milton Nascimento and Zélia Duncan.

Biography of singer-songwriter Simone Bittencourt

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