Who Was Karina Zeviani? Model and The Voice Star Dies After Cancer Spread to Liver and Bones

Karina Zeviani, a Brazilian singer and former model who appeared on The Voice Brasil in 2020, has died at age 51 after a two-year fight with breast cancer. She died Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, in São José do Rio Preto, in the interior of São Paulo state, Brazilian outlets reported. The cancer had spread to her liver and bones, and the Jaboticabal city government confirmed her death.

Zeviani was born in Jaboticabal. She had built an international music career with groups in the United States and France before she became known to Brazilian television audiences.

How Did Karina Zeviani Die?

Zeviani was being treated for breast cancer, which was diagnosed about two years before her death. Brazilian outlets reported that the disease advanced to her liver in January 2026 and led to infections, severe anemia that required blood transfusions and a stay in intensive care.

She said in one update that she had reached more than 90 percent remission after her first rounds of chemotherapy. Later tests showed new spots in her bones and liver. After about a month of oral chemotherapy without the hoped-for response, she said she would begin an intravenous round.

Her Career With Thievery Corporation and Nouvelle Vague

In 2005, Zeviani joined the American electronic music collective Thievery Corporation, recording and performing with the group. Three years later, she became one of the vocalists for the French project Nouvelle Vague, known for bossa nova versions of punk and post-punk songs.

She also lived and worked abroad as a model. In 2024, while being treated for cancer, she returned to the stage with Nouvelle Vague at the Circo Voador in Rio de Janeiro.

Her Journey on The Voice Brasil

Zeviani reached a wider Brazilian audience in 2020, during the ninth season of The Voice Brasil on TV Globo. In the blind auditions, she sang “Sonhos,” a song by Peninha, and drew praise from judge Lulu Santos. She joined Carlinhos Brown’s team and was eliminated in the battle rounds.

After the show, she stayed active in music and shared updates about her health on social media. In April 2026, she started a fundraising campaign to help cover her medical costs.

Tributes and Funeral

Thievery Corporation’s Rob Garza and Eric Hilton paid tribute to her. “She was a beautiful, talented and truly lovely soul, with an aura and vibrance that were impossible to forget,” they said, according to The Sun. Actress Luana Piovani, who was a friend, also posted a tribute on social media.

Childhood friend Rodrigo Villela remembered her as “a person full of sparkle,” The Sun reported. Her wake was held Friday, Oct. 2, in Jaboticabal, and she was buried at the city’s municipal cemetery, according to local reports. She leaves her parents and her husband.