She began her working career as a primary school teacher in Rio de Janeiro before becoming an announcer on various Brazilian radio broadcast stations.

D'Apparecida had become a singer just as she was told she not join the city's Theatro Municipal because she was black and faced racial discrimination in Brazil.

D'Apparecida was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,[1] on 17 January 1926;[2] French documents listed her birth year as 1936.

[1][3] Following the death of D'Apparecida's mother of tuberculosis when her daughter was eight and lost contact with her father because of him becoming distant, she was raised by her paternal middle-class family in Tijuca,[2][5] although she was never legally adopted by them.

[1][3] She wanted to work at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro,[4] but was told by an Italian-Brazilian businessperson in the conservative carioca society of the 1950s that "You have a beautiful voice, but you are black.

D'Apparecida decided to move to Paris, France with the composer Waldemar Henrique in 1959 because she was disillusioned with possible lyrical singing work in Brazil,[2][9] where she was frequently harassed and faced racial discrimination.

[2][5][6] D'Apparecida took three years to recover from the accident before resuming lyrical signing although she was no longer able to perform an entire opera.

[1] She partook in numerous festivals in France and overseas,[1] being named General Delegate for Brazil in 1992,[3] and touring South America in 2000.

[1] Other awards she received were the Grand Prize of the French Lyric Record Academy [fr]; the gold medal and Honorary Diploma of Brazilian Merit Carlos Gomes; Orphee d'Or (1969); Spring of Sweden Prize (1971); the Printemps en Suède (1972); Honorary Citizen of the City of Rio de Janeiro (1981); the Grand Prix International du record from the Académie Charles Cros for the record Brasileirissimo (1988) and the Great Gold medal of the Société d'Encouragement au Progrès [fr; ru].