On Friday, Brazilian country music singer Marilia Mendonca was one of the members who died in a fatal air crash. According to her public relations firm, the popular star was on the way to attend a concert when the plane crashed in a rural region of the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. Four other people have also died in the crash.
In a statement on Friday, the Minas Gerais Electric Company (CEMIG) said that the singer’s plane had hit a cable on an electric tower that belonged to their power company.
Ivan Lopes Sales, who is the police chief of Minas Gerais, said that it was too early to know what caused the crash. At the news conference, the police chief also said that the dispersed debris field indicated that the airplane might have “hit something” before it fell.
The country was shocked to hear that their popular singer had died in a crash. There was a huge outpouring of grief across the nation as it grappled with the loss of their charismatic star. Brazilian footballer Neymar who was one of her close friends posted on Twitter that he “refused to believe” that his friend was dead.
Jair Bolsonaro, the President of Brazil, said that the “entire country” had been shocked by the news of the death. The governor of Rio de Janeiro Claudio Castro said that her loss was a “tragic accident.” Caetano Veloso, who is well known from decades in Brazilian pop music genre MPB, called her “marvelous Mendonca” and said that he was tear stricken after nearing the news.
Ronaldo Caiado, who is the governor of Goias, the state that Mendonca and her family belong to, said that that her funeral would begin at about 8 a.m. on Saturday. He said that they were expecting up to 100,000 mourners at the capital city Goiania where her funeral will be held.
Marilia Mendonca was a Latin Grammy winner and was called “the Boss” by millions of fan. The 26-year old singer rose to fame when she sang in the popular sertanejo country music genre. She created waves as she sang about the empowerment of women in a male dominated musical environment.
Her PR firm said that she was the most listened to artist in the nation in 2019 and 2020 on the music platform–Spotify. She had over 38 million followers on the social media platform–Instagram. According to CNN Brasil, she leaves behind a one year old son.
