Nara Lofego Leão was a Brazilian singer and a key figure in the Bossa Nova and
MPB (Música Popular Brasileira) movements. She was born on January 19, 1942, in
Vitória, Espírito Santo. Her father gifted her a guitar at the age of 12 to help
her overcome her shyness, and she began taking lessons from notable musicians
such as Patricio Teixeira and Solon Ayala. Nara Leão's professional music career
began in 1963 after years of performing as an amateur. She toured with Sérgio
Mendes and soon became known as "the muse of Bossa Nova." In the mid-1960s, as
Brazil's political climate bec...