About this artist
Margareth Menezes is a Brazilian singer from Salvador, Bahia.
Her style is considered axé but her music also steers into samba and MPB territory, at times drawing on African rhythms and reggae.
Menezes is best known in Brazil for her song "Me Abraça e Me Beija", a major hit in 1990. She also scored another hit with "Dandalunda", a song which became the unofficial anthem of the 2003 Salvador carnival.
Menezes has achieved superstardom in her native Bahia but only moderate success in wider Brazil. She is famed for her energetic live performances and regularly tours and performs at carnival celebrations.
In 1990, one of Menezes's tracks "Elegibô" was used in the Mickey Rourke film Wild Orchid. This prompted Island Records in the US to release a compilation album of some of her older material from Brazil on their subsidiary label, Mango. The album, simply titled Elegibô, was an instant hit, reaching # 1 on the Billboard World Music chart at a time when David Byrne was championing Brazilian music in the US. The title track itself became a regular staple at clubs playing so-called world music throughout the US and Europe.