Gloria Groove

Daniel Garcia Felicione Napoleão (born January 18, 1995), known professionally as Gloria Groove, is a Brazilian singer, rapper, songwriter, actor, voice actor, and drag queen.

Garcia's singing career began when he was 7 years old, as a member of children's musical group Turma do Balão Mágico.

During his childhood, Groove starred in the RecordTV telenovela Savage, and began work as a voice actor.

Daniel Garcia Felicione Napoleão was born on January 18, 1995, in São Paulo, to a family of artists.

Daniel grew up in the Vila Formosa neighborhood, where he accompanied his mother, Gina Garcia, during her shows.

Daniel's mother was a backing vocal for pagode group Raça Negra, while his aunt was also a singer and his maternal grandparents were circus performers.

Inspired by his mother, Daniel recalls singing since he was 4.

When he was 6, he starred in advertisements for Elma Chips (Brazilian counterpart to Lay's).

He then auditioned in the program Domingo Legal, when he was 7, to become part of the band Turma do Balão Mágico (known as "Galera do Balão" at the time); he was a member of the musical act between 7 and 9 years.

After performing in Programa Raul Gil as part of a children's gospel group, the ten-year-old Daniel competed at the talent show host by the program.

He only competed for two weeks because he was selected to star in the Rede Record telenovela Bicho do Mato (2006–2007).

Daniel started his career as a voice actor in this period; one of the major roles was to dub Rico Suave in Hannah Montana.

Daniel grew up feeling he was different and was bullied in school.

He also attended the Protestant church Reborn in Christ through his childhood until his teenage years and in the church, he learned about soul music and black music.

He gradually stopped going to church as he started working in theatre at the age of 14 and came out as gay.

During this time, he played the role of Margaret Mead in an independent stage performance of Hair.

Inspired by the play's themes, he decided to create a drag queen persona.

The theatre made him appreciate the possibility of mixing music, performance, dance, makeup and costume.

Watching RuPaul's Drag Race, he concluded he could do his performances not only in the theatre, but also on clubs and shows.

At 17–18, he adopted the stage name "Gloria Groove", chosen after how hymns are called in Brazilian Protestant churches and the musical term of the same name associated with black music.

Groove worked as "coach" in "Bishow", a segment in the TV Globo program Amor e Sexo in which contestants competed as drag queens.

After a period working in theatre as a teenager, Garcia adopted the drag persona "Gloria Groove" in 2014.

Two years later, he started gaining prominence by appearing in the TV Globo reality show Amor & Sexo.

Although the filming lasted until November 2015, the show was only broadcast between January and February 2016.

Gloria Groove's singing career launched with the release of the single "Dona" in January 2016.

After its success, Groove released "Império", and was featured in Carnival hit "Catuaba" by Aretuza Lovi.

Gloria Groove started a career as a singer by releasing the single "Dona" in January 2016 through the label SB Music.

It was followed by the song's music video directed by João Monteiro in March; it was a hit, being watched 1.7 million times in a year.

In August, Groove released the single, "Império", whose music video was released in October and was also directed by Monteiro.

In November, Groove was featured in Aretuza Lovi's single "Catuaba", which was a moderate success in Brazilian Carnival.

First announced as an extended play to be released in March 2016, Groove released the eight-track album O Proceder in February 2017.

To promote the album, Groove announced the release of single versions for "Gloriosa" and "Muleke Brasileiro".

The former's music video was released in June, and it was released along with "Dona" and "Império" in a mash-up version by ONErpm in November.

The latter's music video, directed by Rafael Kent, was released in November, while its single version was published by SB Music in December.

Groove's first album, O Proceder, was released in February 2017 and was followed by the singles "Gloriosa" and "Muleke Brasileiro".

At the end of 2017, Groove released one of the most successful singles of her career, "Bumbum de Ouro".

It was followed by peer recognition, which led the singer to feature in several singles such as "Joga Bunda", along with Lovi and Pabllo Vittar, "Arrasta" with Léo Santana, a remix version of Anitta's "Show das Poderosas", and Lexa's "Provocar".

Groove was also among the singers chosen to perform "Filhos do Arco-Íris", a single released in June 2017 whose profit was destined to amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research.

Since November 2017, Groove is producing a second album.

In December 2017, Groove released the first single for the upcoming album, "Bumbum de Ouro", one of the singer's most successful songs and a hit during Carnival.