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‘Today’s Brazilians have no idea what it feels like to lose democracy’: Joyce Moreno on her battles to become a Latin musical great
After her defiant femininity outraged many in Brazil, she lived through a military dictatorship and was boycotted for years. But after more than 30 albums, she explains how she kept going
TL;DR
- Joyce Moreno, at 78, is a celebrated Brazilian musical icon who faced early career resistance for her unapologetic first-person songwriting and refusal to conform to sexualized expectations.
- She endured a decade-long boycott by major record companies after successfully suing for copyright infringement when another singer was given her song blueprints.
- Moreno's career spans over 400 songs and 30 albums, defining the Música Popular Brasileira genre, with her latest album being Joyce & Tutty Moreno.
- Raised in Rio during the bossa nova era, Moreno learned guitar from her brother and developed her musical talent independently, later becoming one of the first Brazilian women to write and perform from a female perspective.
- Her music gained wider recognition with the 1980 album Feminina, which explored themes of femininity, reflecting her differing views from her mother's generation on female identity.
- Moreno experienced Brazil's military dictatorship (1964-1985), a period of censorship and persecution, which led her to record an album of silenced artists' music while touring Italy.
- She views Brazil's current president Lula as the only alternative against the rising far-right in Latin America and South America.
- Her relationship with drummer Tutty Moreno began with a shared passion for music and a desire for change.
- A planned international launch album in New York in 1977 was shelved but eventually released in 2022, with her international profile significantly boosted in the 1990s by UK DJs and acid jazz.
- Her latest album is dedicated to her late friend and collaborator, João Donato.
- Moreno credits her career longevity to her inherent self-esteem and the music living within her.