20, signed by members of her family, her manager, and her team, announced the loss. In 1960, she garnered a record deal, kicking off her iconic singer career, going on to have hits like "Se Acaso Você Chegasse" and "Cadeira Vazia." "Icon of Brazilian music, considered one of the greatest artists in the world, the singer elected as the Voice of the Millennium had a triumphant, intense life, that moved the world with her voice, her strength and her determination." "It is with great sadness and regret that we report the death of singer and composer Elza Soares, aged 91, at 15:45 at her home in Rio de Janeiro, of natural causes," the statement began. Soares briefly stepped away from music in the 2010s before making her return with A Mulher do Fim do Mundo in 2015, an album that earned her a Latin Grammy for Best Musica Popular Brasileira Album. The project notably addressed violence against the LGBTQ community, police brutality, and those living oppressed in Brazil. Her later albums, Deus é Mulher and Planeta Fome, released in 20 respectively, also received Grammy nods. The legendary actor, who was the first Black man to win a Best Actor Oscar, died on Jan. He was 94.īorn in Miami, Sidney Poitier was raised in his native Bahamas, on a rural farm with no electricity or running water. He later moved to Harlem, washing dishes to pay his way. He went on to serve in the Army before joining the American Negro Theater, where he traded janitorial services for dramatic arts training. His career began on Broadway, with a role in Lysistrata. His breakthrough big screen role was as Dr. Brooks in 1950's racial drama No Way Out. He went on to star in countless films, earning prestigious awards and accolades including the Best Actor Academy Award for his turn in Lilies of the Field. Other iconic films of his include To Sir With Love, In the Heat of the Night and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, which continued to interrogate themes of race and class. Outside of his acting, Poitier explored those same issues offscreen as an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement. He later served as the Ambassador of the Bahamas to Japan from 1997 to 2007. He was married twice: first to Juanita Hardy, from 1950 until 1965, and then to Joanna Shimkus, whom he wed in 1976 and remained married to until his death. He leaves behind Shimkus as well as five daughters: Beverly, Pamela, Sherri, Anika and Sydney.
Reeves, a former NFL running back and coach, died on Jan.