GOIANIA BRAZIL — Thousands of people flooded the hometown of late Brazilian country music star Marilia Mendonca Saturday to pay an emotional tribute to
GOIANIA, BRAZIL — Thousands of people flooded the hometown of late Brazilian country music star Marilia Mendonca Saturday to pay an emotional tribute to the beloved singer, a day after she was killed in a plane crash at age 26. Mendonca, a Latin Grammy-winning superstar of Brazilian ‘sertanejo’ music, died with four other people Friday when a small plane carrying her to a concert crashed in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. Her body was flown Saturday to the central city of Goiania, her home, where crowds of distraught fans lined up to file past her white-draped casket at a massive public wake. Known for her soaring voice and sorrowful songs, Mendonca managed to break into a country music scene long dominated by men and machismo. She was a leading figure in a burgeoning sub-genre known as ‘feminejo,’ or sertanejo music by women. But her massive fan base included men and women alike. Many mourners outside the stadium where the wake was held could barely find words to describe their sadness. Hundreds of fans of Brazilian singer Marilia Mendonca,26, line up outside the Arena Goiania sports center to attend her wake, in Goiania, state of Goias, Brazil, on Nov.
