FERNANDA ABREU is a Brazilian singer, songwriter and dancer, born and raised in Rio de Janeiro.  She started her musical career in 1982 as a backing vocalist for ‘Blitz’, the most successful Brazilian pop-rock band of the 1980s.

 

In 1990 she released her debut solo album, the groundbreaking ‘SLA Radical Dance Disco Club’, the first dance pop music album in Brazil’s music history. 

It incorporated elements of disco music, hip hop, funk, carioca funk, house, soul and samba. A pioneer in Dance Music scene in Brazil, Fernanda is currently considered as the ‘Mother of Brazilian Dance Pop’.

 

Ever since her debut album, she has been closely linked to the Brazilian Funk genre created in Rio’s favelas in the late 1980s. Fernanda was and remains an essential artist connecting this movement with the Brazilian middle class, strengthening the favela-asphalt link. She is hailed as the ‘Godmother of Carioca Funk’, a musical genre she helped break through the mainstream.

 

Fernanda’s second album ‘SLA 2-Be Sample’/1992 featured the blockbuster hit single ‘Rio 40 Graus’ (‘Rio 40ºC’), a raw and up-to-date picture of Rio de Janeiro, which became the city’s contemporary alternate anthem and consolidated Fernanda as one of Rio’s top cultural icons. 

          

With the release of the gold-certified album ‘Da Lata’/1995, produced by Will Mowat (of the famous English band ‘Soul II Soul’), Fernanda began touring internationally, taking her modern pop Brazilian music to worldwide audiences, especially in Europe.

 

Respected and admired by the Brazilian music industry and known for her genre- crossing abilities, Fernanda released between 1996 and 2020 the albums ‘Raio X’/1997, ‘Entidade Urbana’/2000, ‘Na Paz’/2004, ‘MTV ao Vivo’/2006 and ‘Amor Geral’/2016, featuring influential artists such as Carlinhos Brown, Mario Caldato, Chico Science and Nação Zumbi, Planet Hemp, Marcelo D2, Lenine, Herbert Vianna, Gilberto Gil, João Donato, Eumir Deodato, Martinho da Vila, Jorge Benjor, Dj Marlboro, hip-hop icon Afrika Bambaataa, and many others.

 

She has also appeared as a guest artist on several albums by Brazilian music legends such as Roberto Carlos, Carlos Lyra (one of the fathers of Bossa Nova), Velha Guarda da Escola de Samba Mangueira, among others.

In December 2020, celebrating 30 years of her solo career, she released the CD and DVD ‘Amor Geral (A)Live’. Then, in September 2021, she  released ‘30 anos de Baile’, an album featuring her biggest hits remixed by 14  renowned DJs, highlighting her partnership with top-tier Brazilian electronic music artists.

 

In 2024, with 42 solid years in the business, several albums and singles released, gold-certified hits, national and international tours, Fernanda is a household name in major concert halls and all-star music festivals, such as Rock in Rio (performing in 6 editions beginning in the legendary first one in 1985), Hollywood Rock/RJ, Ceará Music/CE, Planeta Atlântida/RS, Rock The Mountain/RJ, Coala Festival/SP, MADA Festival/RN and many others.

 

A concerned artist and citizen, Fernanda is a partner in several Rio social projects such as ‘Urban Connections’ by the Afro Reggae Cultural Group from the favela of Vigário Geral; Coopa Roca, a cooperative of seamstresses from the favela of Rocinha; the ‘Morrinho Project’, a visual arts collective work from the favela of Pereirão  (Venice Biennale / 2007); ‘Passinho do Funk’, an influential dance movement created in Rio’s favelas; and ‘CUFA’ (‘Central Única das Favelas’), the most important organization promoting political, social, sporting and cultural activities in Brazilian favelas and low-income communities.

 

 For her consistent contribution to Rio’s and Brazilian culture, Fernanda Abreu was the recipient of important accolades such as the ‘Order of Cultural Merit of Brazil’ awarded in 2009 by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; ‘Citizen of Merit of the City of Rio de Janeiro’ by Rio’s City Council ; and the ‘Chiquinha Gonzaga Medal’, the highest award given to women who stand out in cultural activities, in 2010.

 

Always breaking new ground, Fernanda Abreu keeps on singing, dancing, writing, recording and producing Brazilian pop music with a Carioca soul in a brilliant and solid career, crossing over audiences of different generations and social classes, in Brazil and internationally, with her unique musical signature, irresistible charisma and top-notch live performances worthy of her indisputable title of ‘Garota Carioca Suinge Sangue Bom’ (‘The Hip Hot Carioca Girl’).