Cesaria Evora was born on Wednesday, August 27, 1941, in Mindelo, Sao Vicente, Cape Verde to Justino da Cruz Evora and Dona Joana. Her father, who was a violinist, died when she was seven years old and she was taken to an orphanage when she was 10 as her mother could not take care of all her siblings adequately.
She began singing as a teenager in bars in her hometown in Mindelo, and soon enough she was singing on local radio stations. She sang morna, a traditional music style of Cape Verde with sad or solemn and poetic tones accompanied by guitar or piano. This earned her the title ‘Queen of Morna.’ She got married 3 times, divorced in all of them and is survived by 2 children.
