Jovelina Pérola Negra: Google doodle honors Brazilian samba singer on her 78th birthday

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Happy birthday, Jovelina Pérola Negra!

Today Google honors Jovelina Pérola Negra, the Brazilian samba singer and songwriter on her 78th birthday. She is also well known for her stage name Jovelina Farias Belfort and her deep voice. She was a representative of the partido alto samba style and considered an heir to Clementina de Jesus' style of singing

Today's Doodle, illustrated by Rio De Janeiro-based guest artist La Minna, celebrates the singer-songwriter's 78th birthday.

Pérola Negra was born as Jovelina Faria Belfort in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and grew up singing and dancing the samba in the Belford Roxo neighborhood. Her friend suggested the stage name Jovelina Pérola Negra (meaning "black pearl" in Portuguese) because it suited her radiant complexion and elegant voice.

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Until age 40, Pérola Negra worked as a housemaid and spent her free time attending Império Serrano, a celebrated samba school in Rio de Janeiro. She regularly sang at community samba parties called pagodes in the working-class suburbs of Rio de Janeiro.

After a local producer discovered her at a pagode, Pérola Negra received the opportunity to record her first album, Raca Brasileira, with other newly discovered artists. The singers all performed the Partido Alto subgenre of samba, a style that offers vocal improvisation and singalong opportunities for the audience. Pérola Negra lent her singing and songwriting skills to three compositions on Raca Brasileira. It was wildly successful and the record label, RGE, hired Negra to record her first solo album.

Pérola Negra released her self-titled debut album to further acclaim. The song arrangements supported her emotional vocals with a cavaquinho, a Portuguese stringed instrument that resembles a ukulele—like the ones pictured in today's Doodle. She released four more individual albums in the prime of her career, experimenting with different genres, like the slower-paced samba-canção, and earning a platinum record. Pérola Negra performed around the world in Angola, France and Japan before passing away from a heart attack at age 54.

The Brazilian Ministry of Culture awarded Pérola Negra the Order of Cultural Merit in 2016. A community center located in the Pavuna neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro was also named in her honor. Today, her music can be found on streaming platforms and in record stores all over the world.

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