Cesaria Evora Dead: 'Barefoot Diva,' Grammy-Award Winning Singer From Cape Verde, Dies At Age 70

Cesaria Evora Dead: 'Barefoot Diva,' Grammy-Award Winning Singer From Cape Verde, Dies At Age 70: "LISBON, Portugal — Cesaria Evora, who started singing as a teenager in the bayside bars of Cape Verde in the 1950s and won a Grammy in 2003 after she took her African islands music to stages across the world, died Saturday. She was 70.

Evora, known as the "Barefoot Diva" because she always performed without shoes, died in the Baptista de Sousa Hospital in Mindelo, on her native island of Sao Vicente in Cape Verde, her label Lusafrica said in a statement on its website. It gave no further details.

Evora retired in September because of health problems. In recent years she had had several operations, including open-heart surgery last year."