Portrait
Born
10 December 1962Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Died
29 December 2001Rio de Janeiro, Brazil · aged 39
SingerBrazil25th anniversary of death

Cássia Eller

Her powerful interpretations made her a Brazilian rock star; after her death, her partner’s care of their son became a landmark family case.

Cássia Eller was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1962. She grew up in several Brazilian cities and began performing in bars and theatres before establishing herself as a recording artist in the 1990s.

Her deep, rough voice and forceful stage presence brought new intensity to songs by other writers. “Malandragem” and “O Segundo Sol” became closely associated with her. Moving between rock and Brazilian popular music, she made interpretation itself a distinctive form of authorship.

In 2001 she performed at Rock in Rio and released “Acústico MTV”, which became her most successful album. Away from the stage, she lived openly with Maria Eugênia Vieira Martins, with whom she raised her son Francisco, known as Chicão.

Eller died suddenly in December 2001, aged 39. A dispute over Chicão’s future brought their family into public view. In January 2002 a Rio de Janeiro judge granted Maria Eugênia provisional custody, recognising the importance of the home and care she had already provided. The ruling drew attention to family relationships that Brazilian law had struggled to accommodate.

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