CARMEN ROGRIQUES GREW UP IN her father’s supermarket, standing behind the counter on upturned Coke crates to serve customers as a child.
In 2024 , she turned 40 and cracked number six on the Jacaranda FM top 40 with her single “Surprise.”
When Carmen first heard Adele on television, she was recovering from a broken heart and hardly expected her musical journey to involve a chart topping fairytale.
She had no idea there would be a musical journey at all. She went from helping out at her dad’s stores to trading gold.
“I have no musical background at all. I come from a big, loving family, and we were involved in my dad’s supermarkets. In the block of flats where we lived in Pinetown, a neighbour played the guitar in the backyard, and I thought that was nice.
“My dad bought me a guitar, and my family and friends said I could sing.”
Carmen’s dad took her to a university professor who taught her the basics. She persevered with her lessons but wasn’t convinced of her talent.
Not until she stood in her lounge one day and heard Adele’s Chasing Pavements on TV.
“I listened to her and I thought ‘Oh my word, she’s talking to me!’”
Carmen was so moved by the music she started singing at every opportunity.
At the time, she was getting over a relationship and sold gold and Kruger Rands.
In 2013, she started tutoring aspiring singers from her home.
In 2016, she plucked up the courage to travel to New York for a singing contest, where she won an armful of awards. It was one of the most affirming moments in Carmen’s life.
She was pumped: “I was like, ‘oh, I can sing!’”
Carmen was seized by the moment and high on life. She went to Times Square where she sang Adele’s Someone Like You to passersby.
“I just had to do it, so I did. It was wonderful!”
Carmen has an earthy, soulful vibe, ala Aretha Franklin or Randy Crawford, but she’s also not shy of disco balls, glitter and a bit of pop.
“Music is the language of love and hope. I had no idea I would get where I am today, but now music is my life, and I see its healing power every day.”
