Portal:Brazil/Selected biography/9
Daniela Mercury (Portuguese pronunciation: [dɐ̃niˈɛlɐ ˈmɛʁkuɾi]; born on July 28, 1965 in Salvador, Bahia) is a Latin Grammy Award-winning Brazilian axé, samba-reggae and MPB singer, songwriter and record producer. Since her breakthrough, Mercury has become one of the best known Brazilian female singers, selling over 8 million albums in her home country and almost 12 million albums worldwide.
Her mother is Liliana Mercuri, a social worker of Italian ancestry, and her father is Antônio Fernando de Abreu Ferreira de Almeida, a Portuguese industrial mechanic. Mercury spent her childhood in a house in the Brotas neighborhood with her four siblings: Tom, Cristiana, Vânia (who would also become a singer) and Marcos. When Mercury was eight years old she started to take dance lessons (classic ballet, African dances and jazz). At thirteen, she decided to become a singer (apparently influenced by the work of Elis Regina) and at sixteen, she started to sing in trio elétricos. Two years later, she entered the Federal University of Bahia's School of Dance.