A popular singer has tragically died of cancer, aged 42.
Vanessa Rios passed away on Saturday (25 Oct) night in hospital, where she had been receiving treatment for lung cancer.
She leaves behind a 16-year-old daughter.
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Vanessa, who had 680,000 followers on Instagram, was known for performing Brazilian brega and forró music.
Over the course of her career, she sang with several popular bands, including Kitara, Capim com Mel, and Forró do Muído.
Raised in Jaboatão dos Guararapes, in Brazil’s Greater Recife area, she began her career in 2010 with the Brasília-based group Encosta Neu.
She later joined the band Boa Toda, with whom she recorded her first hit, “Lençol Vermelho”, released in 2012.
In 2014, Vanessa won a competition to become the lead singer of Kitara, following the departure of their previous vocalist.
She remained with them for a year, before joining Forró do Muído and later Capim com Mel, where she stayed for five years.
Capim com Mel paid tribute to her on social media, thanking her for her “professionalism, dedication, and the legacy she left behind”.
Vanessa, who passed away in a private hospital in Recife, had been diagnosed with cancer twice, as reported by Need To Know.
Doctors discovered a sarcoma in her leg in 2019.
She recovered after treatment, but in 2023 she was diagnosed with a pulmonary synovial sarcoma – an extremely rare and aggressive form of cancer of unknown cause, which mainly affects young people and has a poor prognosis.
Vanessa continued performing for some time while undergoing treatment, but eventually had to step away from the stage.
In her final Instagram post in late September, she paid tribute to her loved ones.
She said: “It’s not what we have in life, but who we have in our lives that matters.
“That’s what truly matters – family is the anchor that keeps us steady through life’s storms.”
Her funeral will be held in Jaboatão dos Guararapes today (27 Oct).
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