Feliciano Vierra "Flash" Tavares Sr. (October 29, 1920 – December 17, 2008) was a Cape Verdean American musician, singer and guitarist based in Massachusetts. He was the patriarch of the musical Tavares family, which included the Tavares Brothers, a successful Grammy-winning R&B band in the 1970s and 1980s. The band was made from five of Tavares' sons.^[1] Tavares was known professionally as Flash.

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 long time 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 "It Only Takes a Minute" and "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel", Tavares advocated for the 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 in his 80s despite 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