Dorival Caymmi, Brazilian singer and songwriter; at 94

Bruno Domingos/ReutersWriter Joao Ubaldo Ribeiro stood by the body of Dorival Caymmi at his wake in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday. (Bruno Domingos/Reuters)

SAO PAULO - Brazilian composer and singer Dorival Caymmi, who catapulted to fame when Carmen Miranda performed one of his songs in 1938, died Saturday. He was 94.

He died of kidney cancer and multiple organ failure in his Rio de Janeiro home, his granddaughter Stela Caymmi told the Globo TV network.

"He had been undergoing treatment for some years," she said.

Mr. Caymmi's lyrics were inspired by the beautiful women and folklore of the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia, where he was born.

A deep, velvety voice also helped make him one of the country's most beloved artists.

"His music is part of the nation's cultural heritage," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil said Saturday in a statement.

During his 60-year career, Mr. Caymmi made close to 20 records and composed more than 100 songs, including "O que e que a Baiana tem" which was immortalized by Miranda.

In 1984, Mr. Caymmi was awarded France's Order of Arts and Letters.

His song "Das Rosas" was translated into English as "And Roses and Roses" by American lyricist Ray Gilbert and sung by Andy Williams and Perry Como, among others.

Born in Salvador, Bahia, in 1914, Mr. Caymmi moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1937.

In 1940, while taking part in a local radio station's amateur hour show, he met singer Stella Maris, whom he married the same year.

Their sons Dori and Danilo and daughter, Nana, are all prominent musicians who got their start accompanying their father on the stage and in the recording studio.