Feliciano Vierra Tavares

Tavares was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on October 29, 1920.[2] He was a self-taught musician who learned by listening to the radio and Cape Verdean music at an early age.[2] Tavares, a longtime resident of Hyannis, Massachusetts, was considered to be an influential cultural figure within the Cape Verdean American community in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.[1] The father of all five members of Tavares, whose hits included More Than a Woman and Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel, Tavares advocated for traditional Cape Verdean music.[1] Following his death in 2008, it was noted that "Flash inspired a lot of kids to play music, and he kept the Cape Verdean musical heritage alive."[1] Tavares remained active within the musical community well into his 80s, in spite of an early diagnosis of prostate cancer.[1] He was able to travel to Cape Verde and continued to perform solo until he was 84 years old.[1] In 2007, Tavares and his sister, singer Vicki Vierra, were inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Cape Verdean museum in East Providence, Rhode Island.[1]

Feliciano "Flash" Vierra Tavares died at his home in Hyannis, Massachusetts, on December 17, 2008, at the age of 88.[1] He was survived by his second wife of 38 years, Grace.[2] His first wife, Albina Gomes Tavares (1913–1981, the mother of the five Tavares brothers), and daughter, Eva Baptiste, as well as 10 siblings had predeceased him.[2] He was also survived by three daughters Jenny Mello, Deolinda Borges, Kathleen Clarke; seven sons (including all five members of the Tavares brothers) John Baptiste, Ralph, Arthur, Antone, Victor, Feliciano Jr., and Perry Tavares; one sister, Victoria Tavares Vierra; and 53 grandchildren, 49 great-grandchildren and 18 great-great grandchildren.[2]

Tavares, a 35-year member of the Baháʼí Faith community of Barnstable, Massachusetts, was buried at St. Francis Xavier Cemetery in Centerville, Massachusetts.[2]

• Tavares
• Music of Cape Verde
• Cape Verdean Americans