Cássia Eller

Cássia Rejane Eller (December 10, 1962 – December 29, 2001) was a Brazilian musician. She performed a fusion of rock and MPB. She was rated as the 18th greatest vocalist and 40th greatest Brazilian musician by Rolling Stone Brasil.

Her interest in music began when she received a guitar as a gift at age 14. She played mostly Beatles songs. At 18 she arrived in Brasilia, where her family moved. There she sang in choir, auditioned for musicals, worked in two operas as a showgirl, and performed as a singer for a forró group. She was also part of the first electric trio of Brasilia, called Massa Real, and played deaf in a samba group. In 1981 she appeared in a spectacle of Oswaldo Montenegro.

A year later, at age 19, wanting her personal freedom, she moved to Belo Horizonte for a place to live and a job. As soon as she arrived, she went to work as a bricklayer. She did not finish high school because the shows she was doing every day on a different shift did not allow her a schedule to study.

Characterized by deep voice and her eclectic choices of material, she played songs of great composers of Brazilian rock such as Cazuza, Renato Russo and Rita Lee, as well as of MPB like Caetano Veloso and Chico Buarque, and of pop like Nando Reis, and of sambas like Riachão and of international rock like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, John Lennon and Nirvana.

She had a significant musical career, even though short, with ten recorded albums over the course of the twelve years. In fact, it was only in 1989 that her career took off. Helped by her uncle, she recorded a demo tape with the song “Por Enquanto” by Renato Russo. This uncle took the tape to PolyGram, which resulted in Cássia being hired by the label.

Genres: Brazilian Rock, Pop Rock, Alternative Rock