Simone (musician)

About Simone (musician)

Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira (born December 25, 1949), better known as Simone, is a Brazilian singer of Música Popular Brasileira (MPB) who has recorded more than 30 albums.

Simone was born on December 25, 1949, in Salvador, Bahia, as the seventh daughter in a family of nine children. During her teenage years, she was a professional basketball player and moved to São Paulo to become a member of the women's national basketball team. She studied in Santos, São Paulo, majoring in physical education.

Her music career began when a close friend and guitar teacher Elodir Barontini invited her to sing at a dinner with Odeon's marketing manager. At the end of this encounter, specially scheduled for her performance, came an offer of a contract to record not one but four albums at once. Her eponymous debut album was recorded in October 1972 at a low cost and with a few musicians, conducted by José Biamonte. It circulated only among friends, relatives, and artists; ten years later it would be re-edited and with a different cover. On March 20, 1973, Simone was launched for the press in a closed meeting at the Hilton Hotel in São Paulo; later on, she would appear for the first time on a TV program, for TV Bandeirantes. This was followed by an appearance on Mixturação[3] (director/producer Walter Silva, April 1973), a TV Record program where she was one of the promising new talents. Thus, success gradually took place.

When she transitioned from sports to stage performance, she was supported by her father, an amateur opera singer, and her mother, a pianist. Early in her musical career, she was invited to participate in an international tour, starting with a presentation at the Olympia in Paris. This tour was organized by Hermínio Bello de Carvalho, a major record producer in Brazil. They performed at Olympia, Madison Square Garden in New York City, Belgium, and Canada with great success, launching two albums, Brasil Export 73 and Festa Brasil. Both were produced by Hermínio Bello, who would also produce the next two albums, Quatro Paredes and Gotas D'Água, the last with Milton Nascimento's production.