Cuca Roseta

Maria Isabel Rebelo Couto da Cruz Roseta (born 2 December 1981), known professionally as Cuca Roseta, is a Portuguese fado singer, composer, and model. Roseta is considered one of the most important fado representatives of her generation, appearing early in her career in the movie Fados by Spanish director Carlos Saura. Fado, a musical genre that originated in Lisbon in the early 19th century, is traditionally characterized by feelings of resignation and melancholia, but Roseta's style also incorporates more upbeat influences from world music. She has released seven studio albums with producers including Gustavo Santaolalla and Nelson Motta, has toured extensively, and collaborated with different artists including David Bisbal, Karl Jenkins, and Stewart Sukuma. Roseta has appeared on the television shows Got Talent Portugal, Rising Star, and The Voice Kids Portugal as a judge, and as a competitor in Dancing with the Stars. She has worked toward causes such as road safety and environmental sustainability, and in 2021 gave a series of hospital concerts to the health professionals fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cuca Roseta began her musical career by singing in her church choir; she then became a rock singer after being recruited by her friend Tiago Bettencourt to the group Toranja during her teenage years.^[1] Roseta entered the fado scene at the age of 19,^[2] singing in Lisbon fado clubs in the Alfama district.^[1] She was encouraged to pursue a career in fado by the owner of Clube de Fado, guitarist Mário Pacheco, as well as by singers Carlos Zel, and Ana Moura.^[3] In 2006, Roseta competed in RTP's Festival da Canção with the song "As Minhas Guitarras",^[4][5] and in 2007 she appeared in the Goya Award-winning film Fados by the Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura.^[6]

Im Jahr 2009 zeichnete Roseta für die portugiesische Supermarktkette Pingo Doce den Werbespot Pingo Doce e venha cá auf . ^{[ 7 ]}

Cuca Rosetas erstes Album erschien 2011 und wurde von Gustavo Santaolalla produziert , ^{[ 8 ]} der sie bei einem Auftritt im Clube de Fado gesehen hatte. ^{[ 9 ]} Nach dieser ersten Begegnung, bei der Roseta die Identität des argentinischen Produzenten nicht kannte, ^{[ 3 ]} musste sie aufgrund von Santaolallas vollem Terminkalender vier Jahre auf die Aufnahmen warten. ^{[ 10 ]}

Im Jahr 2013 nahm Roseta das Album Raíz (auf Deutsch: Wurzel) auf, das von Mário Barreiros produziert wurde. Roseta schrieb die meisten Lieder des Albums. ^{[ 11 ]}

Roseta lud den brasilianischen Produzenten Nelson Motta zur Zusammenarbeit an ihrem dritten Album ein; Motta sagte zu, obwohl er seit über zehn Jahren kein Album mehr aufgenommen hatte. ^{[ 12 ]} Das 2015 erschienene Album „Riû“ vereinte verschiedene Genres und zahlreiche bedeutende Persönlichkeiten der Weltmusik wie Bryan Adams , Djavan , Ivan Lins , Zeca Afonso , Dorival Caymmi , Júlio Resende , Sara Tavares und Jorge Drexler . ^{[ 13 ]} Dank Mottas Kenntnissen der Weltmusik interpretierte das Album Lieder unterschiedlicher Herkunft im Stil des „World Fado“ neu ^{[ 14 ]} und brach so mit der traditionellen Melancholie des Fado durch fröhliche Rhythmen und positive Texte. ^{[ 15 ]}

2017 erschien Rosetas viertes Studioalbum „Luz“ , produziert von Diogo Clemente. Das Album enthält neben Eigenkompositionen von Roseta auch Stücke der Künstler Pedro da Silva Martins , Jorge Fernando, Carolina Deslandes , Hélder Moutinho und Mario Pacheco. ^{[ 16 ]} Mitte Oktober wurde vorab die Single „Balelas“ veröffentlicht. Im Juli 2018 folgte die zweite Singleauskopplung „Don’t Be Late“. ^{[ 17 ]}

Roseta released her fifth album Luz de Natal—a Christmas album with Portuguese versions of songs such as "Jingle Bell Rock" and "White Christmas"—in 2018.^[18] She published a book of poetry in 2019 called "One hundred poems by Cuca Roseta".^[19]

Her 2020 album Amália Por Cuca Roseta is a tribute album of songs from the repertoire of Amália Rodrigues.^[20] In December 2020 Cuca Roseta released the album Meu (in English: Mine), with all the themes written and composed by her, which is unprecedented in the fado genre.^[21] The album was presented in an online live concert on December 2, the day of her birthday.^[22]

In 2023 she released the album Rayana in collaboration with Spanish guitarist Daniel Casares.^[23]

Cuca Roseta has toured extensively, performing in more than 30 countries,^[24] giving individual concerts and participating in music festivals such as MEO Sudoeste in 2011. In 2015, Roseta performed more than 120 concerts, both in Portugal and abroad.^[25] That year, she participated in Badasom, a flamenco and fado festival in Badajoz, Spain, where she sang a duet with Niña Pastori.^[26] In 2019, she sang in Havana during the celebration of the centenary of diplomatic relations between Cuba and Portugal.^[27] In 2020 she performed at the Teatro Real during the Madrid fado festival,^[28] participated in an event in Buenos Aires celebrating the 100th birthday of Amália Rodrigues,^[29] and sang the Portuguese national anthem at the opening of the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix.^[30] In April 2021 she sang Lisboa inspira, the official anthem for Lisbon European Sports Capital 2021, composed by herself, at a ceremony attended by the Minister of Education of Portugal Tiago Brandão Rodrigues, and the coach of the Portuguese national soccer team Fernando Santos.^[31][32] At the end of the same month she was invited by the Spanish flamenco musicians Daniel Casares, guitar, and Jorge Pardo, flute and saxophone, to present their project called Supertrío in a performance at the Teatro del Soho in Málaga.^[33] In May 2025 she opened the 4th edition of the Estremoz Fado Festival.^[34]

Cuca Roseta hatte zahlreiche Fernsehauftritte, hauptsächlich in Portugal. ^{[ 35 ]} Sie war Teil der Expertenjury bei „Rising Star: A próxima estrela“ und Jurorin in der dritten und vierten Staffel von „Got Talent Portugal“ . ^{[ 36 ]} Sie nahm an „Dancing with the Stars Portugal “ teil und war als Estrelas in der portugiesischen Version von „ Dança com “ zu sehen. ^{[ 37 ]} Außerdem gab sie in einer Folge von „The Amazing Race 23“ und in der dritten Staffel von „The Amazing Race Australia“ als Jurorin einen Hinweis. 2014 fotografierte Bryan Adams fünf portugiesische Sängerinnen, darunter Cuca Roseta. Die Fotos erschienen auf dem Cover der portugiesischen Vogue ^{[ 38 ]} und wurden in der Ausstellung „Exposed“ im Kulturzentrum von Cascais präsentiert. ^{[ 39 ]}

Roseta wirkte im Laufe ihrer Karriere in zahlreichen Werbespots mit und war Markenbotschafterin für verschiedene Unternehmen und Produkte wie Mitsubishi Motors ^{[ 40 ]} , die Modemarke Guess ^{[ 8 ]} , Brillen ^{[ 41 ]} , Schmuck [42] und Nahrungsergänzungsmittel ^{[ 43 ]} . Im Rahmen einer Werbekampagne von Avani Hotels & Resorts im Jahr 2018 drehte sie ein Reisevideo, in dem sie ihre Lieblingsorte in Lissabon vorstellte ^{[ 44 ]} . 2022 kooperierte Cuca Roseta mit der portugiesischen Kaffeemarke Kaffa ^, um deren Fokus auf nationale Identität zu stärken. Im Rahmen dieser Zusammenarbeit moderierte sie den sechsteiligen Podcast „ Kaffa com Alma“ ^{( Kaffa mit Seele), in dem sie} sich mit Gästen über inspirierende persönliche Erlebnisse unterhielt ^{[ 45 ] .}

Seit 2024 ist Roseta Coach bei The Voice Kids Portugal .

Cuca Roseta's style incorporates influences form jazz, bossa nova, and world music,^[46] but maintaining the purity, minimalism and simplicity of traditional fado and emphasizing narrative and meaning.^[47] Roseta has shown her versatility and curiosity with multiple international collaborations. She has sung in languages other than Portuguese, for example on the songs "Bésame Mucho" with Julio Iglesias,^[48] and "Tum Hi Ho", a Bollywood hit by Mithoon. In her live performances Roseta includes both traditional songs and more modern pop, commercial ballad and Brazilian-style songs.^[49]

Critics have highlighted her "transcendental emotion",^[24] and the elegance of her performances.^[50]

Cuca Roseta is the daughter of Miguel da Cruz Roseta and Maria Natércia Rebelo Couto, and paternal niece of Pedro Roseta, a former Minister of Culture in Portugal.^[1] She has a son named Lopo and a daughter called Benedita, born in 2016. Roseta's husband João Lapa, proposed during one of her concerts in Porto while she was performing on stage.^[51] They were married by the church in 2017 in Obidos, where she sang "Ave Maria" during the wedding.^[52] Lapa works as a conditioning and rehabilitation coach for the Premier League team Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.^[53][54]

Outside music, Cuca practices painting, yoga, meditation, and is a black belt in taekwondo.^[8][55] She first studied law but did not finish, changing to a degree in psychology with a postgraduate degree in marketing.^[1][42]

Roseta has contributed to diverse causes such as improving road safety and nature conservation. She partnered with the Automóvel Clube de Portugal to release the single "We'll all safely get home", which she performed at the 2013 gala of the International Automobile Federation.^[56] In 2019, Roseta was announced as ambassador for the Mirpuri Foundation, a non-profit organization focused in environmental sustainability.^[57] During February 2021 she gave the "Music with hope" series of concerts for health professionals fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic, a joint initiative with Hyundai Portugal. These events took place in hospitals throughout Portugal such as the Hospital Dr Nélio Mendonça in Funchal, Madeira,^[58] the Évora hospital,^[59] the Faro hospital,^[60] and the Gaia and St. João Hospitals in Porto.^[61] In April 2021 she participated in the project to recover the Serra de Monchique after it was devastated by fires in 2018. She appeared in the third episode of a web series, showing the results of the reforestation efforts.^[62]

Studio albums

• 2011 – Cuca Roseta (Universal Music International and Surco)
• 2013 – Raíz (Universal Music International)
• 2015 – Riû (Universal Music International)
• 2017 – Luz (Sony Music)
• 2018 – Luz de Natal (Sony Music)
• 2020 – Amália por Cuca Roseta (Sony Music)
• 2020 – Meu (Brandit Music)

Others

• 2007 – Fados – "Rua do Capelão"^[63]
• 2014 – Nelson 70 – "Apaixonada" (with Ed Motta)^[64]

Collaborations

• 2011 – "Fado de los Barcos" (with Pierre Aderne, in Água Doce)^[65]
• 2012 – "Apelo – Soneto de Separação" (with João Braga, in Fado Nosso)
• 2012 – "É Lisboa A Namorar" (with 3JS, in Totzoverder)^[66]
• 2013 – „Canción Negra“ (mit Karl Jenkins , in Jenkins: Adiemus Colores ) ^{[ 67 ] [ 68 ]}
• 2014 – „Sí Aún Te Quieres Quedar“ (mit David Bisbal , in Tú Y Yo )
• 2014 – „Tristes Pássaros“ (mit Cristiana Águas , in Cristiana Águas ) ^{[ 69 ]}
• 2014 – „Mouros“ (mit Stewart Sukuma , in Os Sete Pecados Capitais & Boleia Africana ) ^{[ 70 ]}
• 2017 – „Yaadon Mein“ (mit Jonita Gandhi , Mohammed Irfan und Arjun Chandy , im Soundtrack von Jab Harry Met Sejal ) ^{[ 71 ]}
• 2018 – „Vamos Fugir“ (mit Djodje )
• 2023 – „Rayana“ (mit Daniel Casares )

• Offizielle Website
• Cuca Roseta bei IMDb