Cássia Eller

Cássia Rejane Eller (Portuguese: /ˈkasjɐ ʁeˈʒɐni ˈɛleʁ/) (December 10, 1962 – December 29, 2001) was a Brazilian singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, regarded as one of the greatest representatives of Brazilian rock in the 1990s.

She came to prominence in the early 1990s and performed a mix of rock and MPB. Eller released five studio albums in her lifetime: Cássia Eller (1990), O Marginal (1992), Cássia Eller (1994), Veneno AntiMonotonia (1997) and Com Você... Meu Mundo Ficaria Completo (1999). Her sixth studio album, Dez de Dezembro (2002), was released posthumously. Eller's most successful album was Acústico MTV – Cássia Eller (2001), selling over 1 million copies. She was ranked as the 18th-greatest vocalist and 40th-greatest Brazilian musician by Rolling Stone Brasil. On December 29, 2001, Eller died at the age of 39 of a heart attack caused by a malformation of her heart.

Biography
Cássia Rejane Eller was born in Rio de Janeiro to Altair Eller, an Army paratrooper sergeant, and Nanci Ribeiro, a housewife. Her name was suggested by her grandmother, who was devoted to St. Rita of Cascia.

She moved with her family to Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais at 6 years old. When she was 10 years old, she went to Santarém, Pará, and at age 12 returned to Rio. Her interest in music began when she received a guitar as a gift at age 14. She learned how to speak English and play guitar by playing Beatles songs. At the age of 18, she arrived in Brasília, where her family moved. There she sang in choir, auditioned for musicals, worked in two operas as a showgirl, and sang frevo, blues, and rock, and performed as a singer for a forró group. She was also part of the first electric trio of Brasília, called Massa Real, and played the Surdo drum in a samba group. She played and sang in several bars (including Bom Demais). In 1981, she appeared in a play by Oswaldo Montenegro.

A year later, at age 19, wanting her personal freedom, she moved to Belo Horizonte looking for a job and a place to live. As soon as she arrived, she went to work as a bricklayer. "I made mortar and set up bricks," she said. There she lived in a small rented room. She did not finish high school because the shows she was doing every day on a different shift did not allow her a time to study. When she returned to Brasília, she replaced a friend as a secretary at the Ministério da Agricultura, but she was fired on the third day and decided to commit herself to singing.

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

Her greatest musical influences were Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Nina Simone.

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 brought the tape to PolyGram, which resulted in Eller being hired by the label. Her first participation on a record was in 1990, in Wagner Tiso's album titled "Baobab".

Her first album, Cássia Eller, was released by PolyGram in 1990. In 1992, she released her second album, O Marginal. In 1994 her third album was released, titled Cássia Eller, which contained the hit "Malandragem," an unpublished song by Cazuza. Her fourth album, Veneno AntiMonotonia, was released in 1997 with a tribute to Cazuza and re-recordings of his songs.

In 1992, Cássia shared vocals with Edson Cordeiro on the song "A Rainha da Noite / I Can't Get No (Satisfaction)", a mash-up of Mozart's Queen of the Night Aria with the Rolling Stones' song. The song was included on Edson Cordeiro's self-titled album.

Influenced by her 4-year old son, Chicão, who remarked that his mom shouted too much and that he preferred listening to singer Marisa Monte, Cássia began singing in a calmer manner. It was then that Cássia released her album Com Você...Meu Mundo Ficaria Completo in 1999, produced by Nando Reis. The hits "O Segundo Sol" and "Palavras ao Vento" came from this album. Cássia and her mother, Nanci Ribeiro, sang together on the track "Pedra Gigante." Cássia remarked about her mother, "She was a singer before marrying my dad. It was her who taught me everything. She sang Dolores Duran, Maysa. I was excited, and she was super nervous. She didn't know where to put the headphones, but she gave a top-notch recording."

On January 13, 2001, Cássia performed on the World Stage at the Rock in Rio festival for an audience of nearly 200,000 people. She fulfilled the request of her son, Chicão, and included the song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana on her set list at the festival. Dave Grohl, ex-drummer of Nirvana and vocalist of Foo Fighters, lauded Cássia's version.

In December 2002 the album Dez de Dezembro was released, the first posthumous album by Cássia Eller, which included unpublished tracks such as "No Recreio" and "All Star," the latter being about Cássia's friendship with Nando Reis.

Eller always had an intense stage presence and preferred albums recorded live. She was frequently invited for special participations and personalized interpretations.

She declared herself to be an interpreter of other people's work, having composed only three of the songs she recorded: "Lullaby" (with Márcio Faraco) on her first album, Cássia Eller, and "Eles" and "O Marginal" (with Hermelino Neder, Luiz Pinheiro and Zé Marcos) on the second album, O Marginal (1992).

Final months
2001 was an especially productive year for Eller. On January 13, 2001, she performed at Rock in Rio III, in a show where baião, samba and MPB classics were sung in a rock rhythm. On this day, the sequence of acts was as follows: R.E.M., Foo Fighters, Beck, Barão Vermelho, Fernanda Abreu, and Eller. Over 190,000 people attended the concert.

Between May and December, Eller did 95 shows. This included recording a DVD (live, as she preferred) and MTV Unplugged, between March 7 and 8 in São Paulo. The project included artists of high artistic and technical ability: Nando Reis (musical direction / authorship, voice and guitar in "Relicário" / voice in "De Esquina" de Xis), the musicians of the band: Luiz Brasil (Musical Direction / Cifras / Guitars and Mandolin), Walter Villaça (Guitars and Mandolin), Fernando Nunes (bass), Paulo Calasans (Acoustic Piano and Organ Hammond), João Vianna (Drums, Surdo, Ganzá, Grater and Blade), Lan Lan (Percussion and Vocal) and Tamima Brasil (Percussion), guest musicians Bernardo Bessler (violin), Iura (Cello), Alberto Continentino (bass sound), Cristiano Alves (clarinet and bass clarinet), Dirceu Leite (sax, flute and clarinet), among many others. The album was composed of 17 tracks, plus the Making Of, photo gallery, discography and i.clip. The album has sold more than a million copies to date and became the biggest hit in Eller's career. Up to then she was not considered an extremely popular singer despite good sales and experience.

In the same year of 2001, she would perform at MTV's Video Music Brasil in her MTV Unplugged alongside Rita Lee, Roberto de Carvalho and Nando Reis (performing Os Mutantes' "Top Top").

Death
Cássia Eller died on December 29, 2001, in the Santa Maria clinic in the Laranjeiras neighborhood, in the south of Rio de Janeiro, after suffering three cardiac arrests due to sudden myocardial infarction. She was 39 years old and at the peak of her career. She had been hospitalized at 1 pm and was placed in the ICU (Intensive Care Center). According to her manager, the singer was feeling bad and complaining of nausea due to overwork. The symptoms, he said, were thought to be the result of stress caused by overwork. "She had been working a lot. In seven months, she's done over a hundred shows," she said. The hypothesis of drug overdose was raised. This was initially considered as the cause of death, but was dismissed by the coroner's report of the Medical Institute of Rio de Janeiro after a necropsy. The coroner's report stated that Eller died of a heart attack caused by a malformation of her heart. The toxicology report found no alcohol or drug residues in her body. Histopathological exams revealed Eller had heart problems, such as mild coronary sclerosis (early onset of fat thrombi) and myocardial fibrosis (scars from other pre-existing lesions).

Eller's death came just two days before her scheduled performance at Praça do Ó in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, for the New Year's Eve celebrations. Luciana Mello was her replacement. At several spots in Rio de Janeiro, there was a minute of silence during the homage of the passage of the year in memory of Eller. Several artists also paid homage to the singer at their shows at the turn of the year.

She is buried at the Jardim da Saudade Cemetery, in the Sulacap neighborhood of the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Personal life
Cássia Eller was openly bisexual. In 1993, Eller gave birth to her first and only child, a son named Francisco (affectionately called Chicão), the love child of a casual relationship with a friend, bassist Tavinho Fialho. Tavinho was married and died in a car accident a week before Chicão was born. Chicão was raised by Eller and her partner Maria Eugênia Vieira Martins. The two had been in a relationship since 1987 and stayed together until Eller's death in 2001. Eller's request was that if something happened to her, Maria Eugênia would be responsible for the care of Francisco, and after her death her partner did raise the boy after a legal battle over his custody against Eller's father.

Eller was a passionate fan of Clube Atlético Mineiro, and was even contacted to receive the Silver Rooster, an honor given to the illustrious fans of the Club. However, with her untimely death, the trophy ended up being delivered in 2002 to her mother, Nanci Eller, according to whom: "Last year Cássia performed in Curitiba, and Levir Culpi sent a Rooster shirt for her and her son. All of her instruments have the Athletic shield. She always put the shield on the things she won. There is even a shield on the door of the studio that Eller had in her residence".

Discography

 * Studio albums
 * Cássia Eller (1990)
 * O Marginal (1992)
 * Cássia Eller (1994)
 * Veneno AntiMonotonia (1997)
 * Com Você... Meu Mundo Ficaria Completo (1999)
 * Dez de Dezembro (2002)
 * Cássia Eller & Victor Biglione in blues (2022)


 * Live albums
 * Cássia Eller ao Vivo (1996)
 * Veneno Vivo (1998)
 * Cássia Rock Eller (2000)
 * Acústico MTV – Cássia Eller (2001)
 * Rock in Rio: Cássia Eller Ao Vivo (2006)