Latin Grammy-winning singer Marilia Mendonca dies in Brazil crash

Marilia Mendonca, one of the hottest young stars of Brazil’s answer to country music, died in a plane crash on Friday, officials said.

The 26-year-old mega-popular “sertanejo” singer was killed when the small plane she was travelling in crashed in Minas Gerais state in southeastern Brazil, firefighters said.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash, which also killed the Latin Grammy-winner’s producer and one of her uncles – who worked with the singer – as well as the two pilots.

Local TV showed footage of firefighters working to remove the bodies from the plane, which crashed in a rocky area next to a waterfall.

The accident took place in a rural area near the city of Caratinga, where the artist was scheduled to give a concert later that day.

Mendonca, who had won a 2019 Latin Grammy for best sertanejo album, was wildly popular in her native Brazil and beyond, with 22 million followers on YouTube and more than eight million monthly listeners on Spotify.

The Sertanejo type of music originated from rural Brazil in the 1920s. In recent years it has gained popularity beyond its countryside audience.