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Paris - Legendary Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora, nicknamed the "barefoot diva", has decided to retire at 70 due to ill health, her record label Lusafrica said on Friday.
The company said the star had arrived in Paris "in a state of great weakness" and, unable to complete a planned series of French concerts, had decided to bring her career to a close.
"Her new health problems come after she had to undergo several operations in recent years, including open heart surgery in May 1010," the statement said.
"Her Paris doctors told her she had to cancel her upcoming tour, so Cesaria and her producer and manager Jose da Silva decided to end her career, and give up this wandering life that has taken her to the four corners of the world."
Big break
Evora has sung the melancholy, blues-influenced "saudade" of her native Cape Verde since her twenties, but came to world fame late in life in 1992 after decades singing in the bars of Mindello, on the island of Sao Vicente.
Her third album Miss Perfumado, which came out that year, was a worldwide hit and in all she has produced 10 studio albums and an anthology of historic radio recordings while touring far from her Atlantic island home.
Evora's big break in 1993 was accompanied by two massively successful dates in Paris, and she has remained loyal to France, singing at the Grand Rex as late as April and planning a tour for this month.
Her voice was compared to that of US great Billie Holliday, and the music press revelled in exotic tales of her African island life, growing up in poverty and aquiring a taste for cognac, smoking and wild nights out.
In 2004, her album Voz d'Amor won a Grammy Award in the United States as Best World Music Album and stars like Madonna, David Byrne and Brandford Marsalis descended on her New York concert.
Evora's late-blooming success took her on a punishing global schedule at an advanced age. She gave up alcohol in 1994, but not smoking, and by 2005 she had been diagnosed with heart problems and begun a series of operations.
The company said the star had arrived in Paris "in a state of great weakness" and, unable to complete a planned series of French concerts, had decided to bring her career to a close.
"Her new health problems come after she had to undergo several operations in recent years, including open heart surgery in May 1010," the statement said.
"Her Paris doctors told her she had to cancel her upcoming tour, so Cesaria and her producer and manager Jose da Silva decided to end her career, and give up this wandering life that has taken her to the four corners of the world."
Big break
Evora has sung the melancholy, blues-influenced "saudade" of her native Cape Verde since her twenties, but came to world fame late in life in 1992 after decades singing in the bars of Mindello, on the island of Sao Vicente.
Her third album Miss Perfumado, which came out that year, was a worldwide hit and in all she has produced 10 studio albums and an anthology of historic radio recordings while touring far from her Atlantic island home.
Evora's big break in 1993 was accompanied by two massively successful dates in Paris, and she has remained loyal to France, singing at the Grand Rex as late as April and planning a tour for this month.
Her voice was compared to that of US great Billie Holliday, and the music press revelled in exotic tales of her African island life, growing up in poverty and aquiring a taste for cognac, smoking and wild nights out.
In 2004, her album Voz d'Amor won a Grammy Award in the United States as Best World Music Album and stars like Madonna, David Byrne and Brandford Marsalis descended on her New York concert.
Evora's late-blooming success took her on a punishing global schedule at an advanced age. She gave up alcohol in 1994, but not smoking, and by 2005 she had been diagnosed with heart problems and begun a series of operations.
