Roberto Carlos

Life and career


Age Roberto Carlos was involved in a train accident, resulting in the amputation of part of his left leg, and the subsequent use of a prosthesis right below his knee. Influenced by his idol, Elvis Presley and the 1950s rock revolution, he rose to stardom as the main figure of the 60s musical movement known as Jovem Guarda (Young guard, in opposition to the 'old guard' of Brazilian music), which was the first manifestation of the Brazilian pop rock movement. Since then, he has been called 'O Rei' (the King), a la Elvis and Pelé.
When his first single and first LP (Louco por você, 1961) were commercial failures, and for a moment he was in danger of being fired from CBS in favor of Sergio Murilo, the first successful rock singer in Brazil. Murilo was then fired for colliding with musical director Evandro Ribeiro over repertoire and payment, opening up space for Roberto Carlos[1].
In 1966 the single 'Quero que Vá Tudo pro Inferno' topped the charts in Brazil, beating The Beatles' Yesterday[2].
During the 1960s, he also started in a few motion pictures directed by Roberto Farias, many of them heavily inspired by the Beatles movies. Later, he moved towards a more serious, adult contemporary approach to singing, whilst consistently continuing to score hits throughout the 70s and 80s, in his country, throughout Latin America, Portugal, Spain and Italy. He remained active through the 90s and beyond, focusing on romantic songs. Every year, Roberto Carlos hosts a holiday special singing his greatest hits along with special guests, which has become a tradition in Brazilian television.
In the 1980s, Roberto Carlos also started to record in English and French (he had already recorded albums in Spanish, Italian, and, naturally, Portuguese), having won the Globo de Cristal trophy, awarded by CBS to Brazilian artists who sell more than five million copies outside Brazil. At the same time, his albums continued to break records in his country. "Caminhoneiro" (1984) was aired 3,000 times in a single day, another record soon beaten by his own "Verde e Amarelo" (1985), with 3,500 spins. In 1986, he had success at Radio City Music Hall (New York, NY) and, two years later, won the Grammy as the Best Latin American Pop singer. In 1989, his Sonrie reached first place on Billboard's Latin chart.
In 1989, Roberto Carlos became one of the only Brazilians ever to win a Grammy Award in the category of Best Latin Pop Album with Roberto Carlos / Tolo.
In the 1990s, Roberto Carlos became the first Latin American artist to sell more albums than the Beatles (in 1994, having by then sold over 70 million copies of his albums). In the mid'90s, with the retro Jovem Guarda wave, Roberto Carlos, who was worn out among the younger generations who had only known his romantic and sentimental hits directed at a middleaged audience, had his importance recuperated by young rockers such as Cássia Eller, Chico Science e Nação Zumbi, Barão Vermelho, and Skank, who recorded Rei, a tribute to him with his old Jovem Guarda hits.
In 1998, his second wife Maria Rita discovered she had cancer (she would die in 1999), which shattered his peace of mind. Trying to keep on with his career, Roberto Carlos continued to record and perform after one year of reclusion. In 2001, he broke his contract with Sony (exCBS), the recording company through which he had released a vast majority of his albums, due to commercial reasons related to his wife's demise.


Igor Almeida Nº17
Lucas Nogueira Nº25
Wilson Nº44
Flavia Nº12