Badi Assad

Badi Assad
Badi Assad at Ibirapuera Auditorium, 2014
Background information
Born	(1966-12-23) 23 December 1966 (age 50) São João da Boa Vista, São Paulo, Brazil
Genres	Jazz, world
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Labels	Chesky, Deutsche Grammophon, Quatro Ventos

Badi Assad (born 23 December 1966) is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, percussionist, and guitarist in the jazz and worldbeat genres.

Assad was born in São João da Boa Vista in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, but lived in Rio de Janeiro until she was twelve. Her father, Jorge Assad, of Lebanese descent, plays bandolim (mandolin), and her two older brothers are classical guitarists Sérgio Assad and Odair Assad of Duo Assad.

Assad studied classical guitar at the University of Rio de Janeiro and won the Young Instrumentalists Contest ("Concurso Jovens Instrumentistas for Young Musicians") in Rio de Janeiro in 1984. In 1986, she joined the Guitar Orchestra of Rio de Janeiro, headed by guitarist Turíbio Santos as conductor. In 1987, she was named "Best Brazilian Guitarist of the International Villa Lobos Festival." By 1987 she had played in Europe, Israel and Brazil with guitarist Françoise-Emmanuelle Denis under the name Duo Romantique. In 1988 she wrote Antagonismus, a solo performance in which she worked as guitarist, singer, actress and dancer.

She released her first solo album, Dança dos Tons, in 1988. In 1989 she was selected out of two hundred women to perform as one of two vocalists in the play Mulheres de Hollanda, a musical written by Tatiana Cobbett, based on the works of Chico Buarque de Holanda. Assad has also been featured in the Heineken Concerts in 1992 with Raul de Souza and Heraldo do Monte, and in 1993 with Rafael Rabello, Dori Caymmi and Marisa Monte.