Cesaria Evora Ends Career At 70

Evora, known as the “Barefoot Diva’’ because she performed without shoes, is 70 and in recent years has had several operations, including open-heart surgery last year.

She won a Grammy in 2003 in the World Music category for her album Voz D’Amor. She toured worldwide and sold millions of albums.

Evora is from Cape Verde, a group of islands off West Africa, and sang that country’s traditional music. It combines mournful ballads with more upbeat rhythms and a Latin American influence.

Her Lisbon, Portugal-based producer Tumbao said in a statement Friday that Evora has decided to retire.