Cesaria Evora, the Cape Verdean singer known as the "Barefoot Diva," died on Saturday at the age of 70. The Grammy Award-winning singer and best-known performer of "morna," Cape Verde's national music, died on her native island of São Vicente, nearly three months after announcing her retirement due to fatigue. Evora had a long history of health problems and had undergone several surgeries in recent years, including open heart surgery in May 2010.

"I have no strength, no energy," Evora told the French newspaper Le Monde in announcing her retirement this past September. "I want you to tell my fans: I'm sorry, but now I must rest."

Between 1995 and 1999, Cesaria Evora released four highly acclaimed albums on Nonesuch Records, beginning with her Grammy-nominated self-titled label debut, followed by Cabo Verde (1997), Miss Perfumado (1998), and Mar Azul (1999). She later went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album in 2003 for Voz D'Amor.

The New York Times, in placing her Nonesuch debut among that year's best albums, wrote: "Somewhere on the spectrum between Sade and Billie Holiday sits Ms. Evora, a singer from the Cape Verde Islands whose songs of loss and longing are as heart-rending as they are spellbinding."

Following the announcement of Cesaria Evora's death on Saturday, the Cape Verdean government declared a two-day period of national mourning. Evora will be buried Tuesday in Mindelo, São Vicente.