Linda Batista

Linda Batista, born in São Paulo, June 14, 1919 was a Brazilian popular musician. Linda was the sister of Dircinha Batista and studied violão (guitar) from age 12 under Patricio Teixeira. She was hired at Radio Cajuti after substituting for her sister on the Gastão Lamounier show in 1932. By 1937 she had been elected Brazil's "Queen of Radio", which she would retain until 1948. She married and quickly divorced in the late 1930s, and became the frontwoman of the Kolman Orchestra at the Cassino da Urca. Her first recordings were released in 1938. Around this time she also began appearing in films such as Maridinho de Luxo and Banana da Terra. She sang at the Radio Cultura in Sao Paulo and then at the Casino of Porchat Isle for six months. She returned to Rio de Janeiro in 1939 and was hired at the Cassino da Urca, where she remained until the casinos were closed in 1945 by state decree. She signed to Victor Records in 1940, and would record for the label until 1960. She toured throughout Brazil in the early and mid-1940s, scoring many nationwide hits such as "Tudo é Brasil" (1941), "Batuque No Morro" (1941), "Clube Dos Barrigudos" (1944), "No Boteco Do José" (1946), "Enlouqueci" (1948), "Nega Maluca" (1950), and "Vingança" (1951). She embarked on a tour of Portugal, France, and Italy in 1951. In the 1950s she did extensive work for films. She toured Uruguay in 1957-58 and Argentina in 1959. In 1960, she appeared in Carlos Machado's Varieties show at the nightclub Night and Day. She retired from active performance in 1960.