Karina Zeviani

Karina Stefania Zeviani was born on 3 September 1975 in Jaboticabal, in the interior of São Paulo state, Brazil. Music entered her life early. She was the baton girl in an 80-member fanfare led by her father, Natal Zeviani, and absorbed Brazilian popular song together with the accordion tunes her grandfather played on the family farm. In adolescence she left Jaboticabal for São Paulo to work as a photo model, then went to Germany for modeling jobs. There, in a karaoke night among friends, she discovered she wanted to sing.

She began weekly club performances and, in 2003, made a name at the Nublu club on New York's Lower East Side. Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco passed a copy of her recording to David Byrne of Talking Heads. Byrne, then involved with the Washington, D.C. trip-hop collective Thievery Corporation after the death of vocalist Pam Bricker, recommended Karina to the group. From 2005 she recorded and toured with Thievery Corporation, including live features such as "Hare Krisna" and "O Meu Nego."

After about three years she grew restless singing the same set and accepted an invitation from the French project Nouvelle Vague, known for bossa nova readings of post-punk and new wave classics. One of its leaders, Marc Collin, later encouraged her to produce her own songs. She lived for years between London, Paris and New York before returning to Rio de Janeiro in February 2011 to launch a solo career.

Her debut album, "Amor Inventado" (Som Livre, 2012), was tracked across Paris, New York, São Paulo and Salvador. She described it as "pop artesanal," preserving an instinctive, almost childlike musicality in songs such as the circus-tinged "Buiu," the near-fado "Carta," the viola-led "Maria Rosa," and "Update." In 2017 she returned with "Flor de Sal," the debut album of a duo with singer-musician Micael Amarante. In 2013 she appeared on Globo's "Som Brasil" in a sertanejo-themed edition.

National fame arrived in 2020 on the ninth season of "The Voice Brasil." At 45 she sang Peninha's "Sonhos" in the blind auditions. Lulu Santos praised her emotional fire; Carlinhos Brown turned his chair, called her brilliant, and invited her onto Team Brown and later onto stage for "Alfagamabetizado." She reached the Battles, where she and Carla Sceno performed "Human," before her exit from the competition. In 2024 she rejoined Nouvelle Vague on stage at Circo Voador in Rio de Janeiro and spoke publicly there about her breast-cancer treatment.

Diagnosed around 2024, she spent about two years in oncology care under teams that included oncologist Antonio Carlos Buzaid. In January 2026 the disease progressed to the liver, with infections, anemia requiring transfusions, and ICU admission. Friends and family organized fundraising; in April 2026 she opened an online campaign and posted videos thanking supporters, insisting the appeal was not a scam, and saying she already considered herself a winner. By September she reported more than 90 percent remission after early chemotherapy, then new spots in bone and liver, a failed oral protocol, and a return to intravenous chemotherapy. She died on 1 October 2026, aged 51, at Hospital Beneficência Portuguesa in São José do Rio Preto. Jaboticabal's city hall confirmed the death. Wake and burial followed on 2 October at Complexo Funerário Terra Nossa and the Municipal Cemetery of Jaboticabal. Model Luciana Curtis, actress Luana Piovani, and artist Michel Melamed were among those who mourned her publicly.