Gracinha Leporace

Gracinha Leporace
Leporace with Sérgio Mendes, 1971
Background information
Birth name	Maria da Graça Leporace
Born	(1950-01-20) 20 January 1950 Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Origin	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Genres	Bossa nova Latin Latin jazz jazz disco adult contemporary
Occupation	Singer
Instrument	Vocals
Spouse	Sérgio Mendes (died 2024)

Gracinha Leporace (born Maria da Graça Leporace; 20 January 1950) is a Brazilian singer who worked extensively with her late husband Sérgio Mendes and his band.

Leporace was born in Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro. She has a sister, Marianna Leporace, who is a singer and actress in Brazil.

Leporace has featured regularly in much of her husband's group's releases since the 1970s and can be heard as the Portuguese-singing female vocal in the hit "Mas que Nada" (featuring The Black Eyed Peas) from the 2006 album Timeless and in the Baden Powell de Aquino composition "Berimbau/Consolação" from the same album, in which she provides the lead vocal. She has been featured on Sergio Mendes's album Magic, released in 2014. She also appears frequently in concert with Mendes's band as a vocalist.

Along with her work with Mendes, she was a member of the Bossa Nova group Bossa Rio in the early 1970s.

Leporace has two sons with Mendes: Gustavo and Tiago. She has lived in Los Angeles, California, for many years.

Discography

• 1968 Gracinha Leporace, Philips

External links

• Photo of Gracinha from a 1967 magazine cover
• Photo of Gracinha from the 2008 Cape Town International Jazz Festival
• Last.fm biography of Gracinha Leporace