Legendary Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora, nicknamed the "barefoot diva", died Saturday in a hospital at the age of 70, three months after retiring due to ill health. The singing star, who won international acclaim with her sultry voice and melancholy ballads of lost love, died on her native island of Sao Vicente, Cape Verde Culture Minister Mario Lucio Sousa announced.
In September, her record label Lusafrica said Evora had decided to end her career due to health problems. She underwent open heart surgery in May 2010. "I have no strength, no energy. I want you to say to my fans: forgive me, but now I need to rest," Evora told French newspaper Le Monde at the time.
Evora has sung the blues-influenced "saudade" of her native Cape Verde since her 20s, but came to world fame late in life in 1992 after decades singing in the bars of Mindello, on Sao Vicente. In 2008 she suffered a stroke after a concert in the Australian city of Melbourne and returned to her Paris base to recover, but still managed to record her latest album Nha Sentimento for release in 2009. Her international career began in 1988.
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