Jesy Barbosa

Origin

Campos, RJ

Also known as

Jesy de Oliveira Barbosa, Gesy Barbosa, Jessy Barbosa

Years Active

1928–1933

Genres

samba-canção, canção, maxixe, tango, valsa, marcha-canção, fox-trot, toada

Instruments

violão, voz

Biography

Jesy de Oliveira Barbosa, known artistically as Jesy Barbosa, was a singer, acoustic guitarist, journalist, poet, radio actress, and radio soap opera author born in Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, on November 15, 1902.

The daughter of a female musician and a journalist and poet, Jesy Barbosa showed an aptitude for the arts from an early age. She learned to play the acoustic guitar in childhood and studied singing with the renowned soprano Zaíra de Oliveira. Her artistic career began in 1928, when she was invited by Roquete Pinto to join Rádio Sociedade do Rio de Janeiro. The following year, in 1929, she recorded her first record with the Victor label, becoming the first female singer to record a record in Brazil for that label, with the songs "Olhos Pálidos" and "Medroso de Amor".

Throughout her career, which lasted until 1933, Jesy Barbosa recorded around 26 records, interpreting compositions by various renowned artists. In 1930, she was elected Queen of Brazilian Song in a contest promoted by the newspaper "Diário Carioca". In addition to her work as a singer, Jesy Barbosa also stood out as a writer, having published poetry and chronicles, and as an author of radio soap operas, such as "Ressurreição", broadcast by Rádio Nacional. Jesy Barbosa passed away in Rio de Janeiro on December 30, 1987, at the age of 85, and is remembered as one of the pioneers of the Radio Era in Brazil.