Kelly de Almeida Afonso Freitas (born March 3, 1983), better known professionally as Kelly Key, is a Brazilian pop

singer-songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk- acoustic tradition with a guitar, although this role has ...

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

, and

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

. She rose to prominence in 2001 with her singles "Baba" and "Cachorrinho" which became defining hits of the early 2000s Brazilian pop music scene. Known for her blend of pop, dance, and funk music, she quickly established herself as a

pop icon A pop icon is a celebrity, character, or object whose exposure in popular culture is regarded as constituting a defining characteristic of a given society or era. The usage of the term is largely subjective since there are no definitively object ...

in Brazil. Over the course of her career, she has sold millions of records, earned numerous awards, and helped shape the genre of Brazilian pop for a new generation. Often compared to

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

contemporaries like

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

for her playful and provocative image, Kelly Key has remained a fixture in Brazilian

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

. She is also the president of Kiala FC and the only female president of a soccer club in Angola.

Biography

1999–2002: Career beginnings and breakthrough with debut album K''elly Key''

Kelly Key’s career began in 1999 when she worked as

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...

on the TV show ''Samba Pagode & Cia''. In early 2000, she recorded a demo, which was picked up by

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the gl ...

. Her eponymous debut album was released in 2001 to great commercial success, selling over 500,000 copies within six months of its release and earning a platinum certification. The album's themes of female empowerment and independence set it apart from previous Brazilian pop music, giving it lasting influence. While her debut single, "Escondido," was only a minor radio hit, it generated significant buzz prompting her record label to release a follow-up single, "Baba Baby." The song became a massive hit, catapulting her to national stardom and earning comparisons to international stars like

. Subsequent singles, "Cachorrinho" and "Anjo," continued her success, reinforcing her image as a strong, independent voice for young women. In 2002, Kelly Key expanded her reach to

Hispanic America Hispanic America ( or ), historically known as Spanish America () or Castile (historical region), Castilian America (), is the Spanish-speaking countries and territories of the Americas. In all of these countries, Spanish language, Spanish is th ...

with ''Kelly Key en Español'', a

Spanish-language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

version of her debut album, which helped her establish a fan base in countries like

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. That same year, she also released a remix album called ''Remix Hits'' and posed nude for the December 2002 issue of Brazilian ''Playboy''.

2003–2004: ''Do Meu Jeito'' and live album

Kelly Key began working on her sophomore album in 2002. ''

Do Meu Jeito ''Do Meu Jeito'' is the second studio album by Brazilian recording artist Kelly Key, released on April 10, 2003, by Warner Music. Production As opposed to her previous album, where most of the songs were composed by Key, the second album has only ...

'' was released the following year. The album continued to explore familiar themes from her debut but also expanded into socially conscious issues, such as

racial prejudice Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race or ethnicity over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination ...

. ''Do Meu Jeito'' was both a commercial and critical success, selling over 300,000 copies, and producing several hit singles, including "Adoleta" and "Chic, Chic." In 2004, she released a live album.

2005–2009: ''Kelly Key'', ''Por Que Não?'' and music hiatus

In 2005, after changing the writers and producers of her first works, Key went through a transformation to her third studio album, Kelly Key 2005 which featured

teen pop Teen pop is a sub genre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards Preadolescence, preteens and teenagers.Lamb, Bill"Teen Pop". About.com. Retrieved January 28, 2007. Often, the artists themselves are teenagers during their break ...

songs. The album featured the hits "Escuta Aqui, Rapaz" ("Listen Hear, Boy") and a remake of

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's 1997 hit "

Barbie Girl "Barbie Girl" is a song by Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua. It was released in April 1997 by Universal and MCA as the third single from the group's debut studio album, ''Aquarium''. The song was written by band members Søren Rasted, Cl ...

", selling about 100,000 copies in Brazil. In 2006 she released her last album on the

label, ''

Por Que Não? Por or POR may refer to: Por *Por (Thai word) *Por, Armenia, a town * Por, a Spanish preposition * Por, a Portuguese preposition POR * POR (gene), cytochrome P450 reductase * Portugal, IOC country code * Power-on reset * Program of Record (PoR) ...

'' (English: ''Why Not?''), selling 45,000 copies. The album spawned the hits "Pegue e Puxe" ("Grab and Pull"), "Shake Boom" and "Analista" ("Analyst"). In 2007 Key released her first compilation, '' 100% Kelly Key'', by Som Livre ("Free Sound") Records, her new label, selling 50,000 copies. The album released the smash "Você é o Cara" ("You're the guy"), reaching her seventh number one single in Brazil. In 2008 Key released her fifth studio album ''

Kelly Key Kelly de Almeida Afonso Freitas (born March 3, 1983), better known professionally as Kelly Key, is a Brazilian pop singer-songwriter, YouTuber, and television personality. She rose to prominence in 2001 with her singles "Baba" and "Cachorrinho" ...

'', rescuing adult themes and selling 40,000 copies. In 2009, Key left Som Livre Records to become a presenter.

2010–2019: Television career and ''No Controle''

In 2009 she became host of the

Rede Record Record (stylized in uppercase; ), formerly known as Rede Record and RecordTV, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network. It is currently the second largest commercial TV station in Brazil, and the 28th largest in the 2012 world ranking. In ...

's TV show ''Hoje em Dia'' with other presenters. In 2010, she became host of her own TV show, the ''Game Show de Verão''. In 2011 she returned to music and released her first

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

single, "O Problema é Meu" ("The Problem is Mine"), which featured DJ and producer Mister Jam. On November 15, she released her debut English single, " Shaking (Party People). In 2014 Kelly announced return to the stage; the single "Controle" marked her return to music after five years dedicating herself exclusively to television. On February 3, 2015, the singer released her sixth studio album , which features a sound inspired by the rhythms

kizomba Kizomba is a social dance and music genre that originated in Angola during late 1970s to early 1980s. Kizomba is a national heritage of Angola and means "party" in Kimbundu. Traditionally, kizomba was danced with family, friends, and acquaint ...

zouk Zouk is a musical movement and dance pioneered by the French Antillean band Kassav' in the early 1980s. It was originally characterized by a fast tempo (120–145 bpm), a percussion-driven rhythm, and a loud horn section. Musicians from Mart ...

and

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

. In 2019, she released an EP titled , and the following year expanded it into an .

Philanthropy and other activities

Key has a great success with the

LGBT people in Brazil LGBT people in Brazil represent an estimated 5.2% of the Brazilian population. Demographics Demographic research The sex composition of the LGBT population is distributed as follows: 64% male and 36% female. The composition of declared se ...

, and she supports

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

in the country. She was a spokesperson to high-school age young adults in a campaign in which she said, "Show how you've grown up. This

Carnaval Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

, use condoms." Key became a friend and business partner of singer and digital influencer Clei Ribeiro and shared videos by him.

Discography

* ''

'' (2001) * '' En Español'' (2002) * ''

'' (2003) * ''

'' (2005) * ''

'' (2006) * '' Pra Brilhar'' (2008) * ''No Controle'' (2015) * ''Do Jeito Delas'' (2020)

Tours

* 2001–2003: ''Turnê Kelly Key'' (247 concerts – In Brazil) * 2003–2004: ''Turnê Ao Vivo e do Meu Jeito'' (118 concerts in Brazil) * 2005: '' Turnê O Filme Já Começou'' * 2006: '' Turnê Por que Não?'' (46 in Brazil) * 2008–2009: 100% Tour (90 concerts in Brazil) * 2010: Holiday Tour (7 concerts – Brazil) * 2011–2013: In the Night/Shaking Tour (43 concerts – Brazil) * 2015: Turnê No Controle (19 concerts – Brazil)

Filmography

References

External links

Official websiteHer blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Key, Kelly 1983 births Living people 21st-century Brazilian singers 21st-century Brazilian women singers Musicians from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian YouTubers Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Brazilian women singers Latin pop singers Brazilian women pop singers Brazilian Latin pop singers Dance-pop musicians Brazilian contemporary R&B singers English-language singers from Brazil Spanish-language singers of Brazil Feminist musicians Brazilian LGBTQ rights activists Warner Records artists Women in Latin music