In this Catalan name, the first or paternal surname is Feliu and the second or maternal family name is Mestres; both are generally joined by the conjunction "i".
Núria Feliu i Mestres (21 September 1941 – 22 July 2022) was a Spanish Catalan singer and actress, a singular figure of the Nova Cançó movement.
Career
Feliu was born on 21 September 1941 in the Barcelona neighbourhood of Sants, a neighborhood where she lived her entire life.[1] There she made her earliest theatrical performances; she was part of the "Agrupació Dramàtica de Barcelona" and participated in several children's choirs in the neighborhood.[2] She made her debut as a singer in 1964 with the group "Els Quatre Gats".[3] Feliu released her first two albums the following year, Anirem tots cap al cel and Gent, with American songs covered in Catalan and soon became part of the Nova Cançó movement.[3]
She was discovered by the composer Antoni Ros-Marbà, who promoted her career until 1966, when Feliu entered the world of jazz and began to collaborate with Tete Montoliu, becoming the first jazz singer in Catalan.[4][3] They then released an LP with Erich Peter, Billy Brooks and Booker Ervin, and in 1997 a compilation album with the title Tete Montoliu-Núria Feliu, 1965–1990 was published.[3]
From 1991 onwards, her appearances on stage were sporadic.[2] In 1992, she made a cameo for an episode of the TV3 sitcom "Teresina S.A. [es]".[5] She also participated in other programs such as Hora once (1970), Quitxalla (1980), Malalts de tele (1999, 1992) and Herois quotidians (2008), and in films such as El vicari d'Olot (1981), Puta misèria! (1989) and Any de Gràcia (2011).[6] Her book Vols ballar? 93 cançons i ballables, a compilation of songs from all periods, was published in 1995.[2]
Feliu in 2018
She retired in 2005, with 50 albums and more than 400 songs recorded.[4]
In 2007, she published a book-disc compiling the most popular Catalan sardanas, and in 2011, she celebrated her 50 years as a singer with a concert at the Liceu, where several artists participated.[1] In 2016, she published the memoirs Dies i records d'infantesa.[2]
One of her last public appearances took place in November 2020, on the TV3 program Al cotxe, during which she stated that "I have not sung for the sake of singing, I have sung for the people" (Jo no he cantat per cantar, he cantat per a la gent) and that she felt satisfied with her musical career.[4]
Feliu sang not only in the jazz music genre, but also popular Catalan songs, boleros, cuplés and sardanes.[1] She also covered songs by Joan Manuel Serrat.[4]
Personal life and death
Feliu never married and never had children.[7] Her brother Albert was her manager throughout her artistic career.[4]
Feliu's health deteriorated during the COVID-19 pandemic; she had pneumonia and shingles and did not leave her home for a year.[4][7] In early 2021 she suffered a stroke, and she died in Barcelona on 22 July 2022, at the age of 80, due to subsequent complications.[1] The Catalan government and the press called her an "indispensable icon" of Catalonia for her popularity among the public and for being a reference of Catalan music.[2][4][9]
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