Tens of thousands of fans paid tribute this Saturday to the Brazilian singer and songwriter Marília Mendonça, 26, who died on Friday in a plane crash along with
four other people while on their way to a concert in Minas Gerais
, in the southeast of the country.
The aircraft in which the star of the sertanejo was traveling fell on the rocks of a waterfall in the municipality of Caratinga, a small town located north of Rio de Janeiro.
His mourners lined up this Saturday in the intense heat of his hometown Goiânia, where a gym was set up to carry out his funeral.
People burst into tears as they approached his urn.
The star was known for her feminism and songs about the importance of empowering women and speaking out against domestic violence.
Singer Marília Mendonça during a concert in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, on September 25, 2021. Will Dias / AP
The accident is being investigated by the authorities.
The Minas Gerais Energy Company (Cemig) reported Friday night that "the twin-engine plane collided with a cable in a distribution tower of the company."
According to the news agency
Agência Brasil
, Cemig published a statement in which it reiterated that it had complied with the established technical standards and that the impacted line was not in the local airport area.
Mendonça, known as "the queen of suffering," attracted women to the Brazilian genre sertanejo
, a style similar to
country
music
,
traditionally performed by men.
Held by security guards, Ruth Dias touches the urn containing her daughter's remains during her funeral at the Ginasio Arena in Goiânia, Brazil.Eraldo Peres / AP
"His songs offer a feminine perspective that has not been heard much in the macho culture of the sertanejo, and has made Mendonça the main voice of a new subgenre called
feminejo
: music by and for women," explained the US media National Public Radio (NPR) in a review on the live album
Em Todos os Cantos
(Everywhere) with which Mendonça won the Latin Grammy for Best Sertaneja Music Album in 2019.
“Marília Mendonça is a beacon for women in Brazil”
, NPR titled the text of that same year.
Three weeks ago the artist published her latest music video
Esqueça-me Se For Capaz
(Forget me if you can) on the YouTube platform where she had more than 22 million subscribers.
The artist posted a clip on her Instagram account, just an hour before the accident, in which, while walking with a suitcase and a guitar, she announced the shows in Minas Gerais and talked about local gastronomy to her 40 million followers.
In the
reel
he is also seen aboard an aircraft.
“Marília was an incredible person and a unique artist
,
”
Marcelo Soares, CEO of the
Som Libre
record label, assured
NBC News, sister network of Noticias Telemundo
, by email
.
The other four people who died in the accident are the singer's music producer, Henrique Ribeiro;
his uncle and advisor, Abicieli Silveira Dias Filho;
and the pilot and copilot of the plane.
"A promising singer-songwriter"
"She was a young and promising singer-songwriter and was the voice of a whole new generation of sertaneja music in Brazil," lamented Manuel Abud, executive director of the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in a statement collected by the EFE news agency .
"What a loss, Lord, what a loss.
I'm devastated, ”Anitta lamented on her social networks.
“One of the women with the best heart, generous and fun.
That friend who is ready for anything
.
He did not envy anyone.
I admire you so much, my God.
An example of all that is good ”, added the artist.
According to BBC Brazil, the singer-songwriter was traveling in a twin-engine Kingair C90A aircraft that belonged to the PEC Táxi Aéreo company.
At the beginning of 2021 "the aircraft with the prefix PT-ONJ had been flying with a problem that caused its windshield to fog up, which would make landing and takeoff operations difficult," according to documents that the media had access to.
Fans line up to pay their respects to singer Marília Mendonça, in Goiânia, Brazil.
The young "promise of the sertanejo" died at age 26 in a plane crash.Eraldo Peres / AP
The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) assured that
investigations into the causes of the accident are continuing.
"She was very charitable with the public, with women, with men, with children, with young people, with the elderly ... a good person, humble and charismatic," said Ilsa da Costa Oliveira, one of her followers who was lining up this Saturday to fire her, as reported by The Associated Press news agency.
Mendonça leaves behind a child just over 1 year old.
