Roberto Carlos: life and musical career of the king

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Roberto Carlos he is one of the most popular singers in Brazil. Adored by his fans, the composer is also known as the king of romantic songs. His concerts have been sold out for over 50 years. The artist is also remembered for being the leader of the Jovem Guarda musical movement, which marked the second half of the 1960s in Brazil.

Read too: Rita Lee — the queen of Brazilian rock

Summary about Roberto Carlos

Roberto Carlos was born in Espírito Santo and the youngest of four brothers.
At the age of nine, his talent as a singer was discovered by a radio station in his city.
He met his great friend Erasmo Carlos when he was still a teenager, as well as Tim Maia and Jorge Ben Jor.
In his late teens and early adulthood, Roberto entered the world of music as a singer and composer, and remains so to this day.
With some friends, he formed a rock band and became known as the Brazilian Elvis Presley.
Roberto Carlos was married three times. The loss of his last wife, Maria Rita, his great love, shook him.

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With Erasmo Carlos and Wanderléa, he presented the Jovem Guarda program, which started a highly successful cultural movement in the 1960s.
“Jesus Christ”, “Emoções” and “Detalhes” are some of Roberto Carlos' greatest hits.
The singer is recognized as the king of romantic music in Brazil and, to this day, his shows are public success.

Roberto Carlos childhood

Roberto Carlos Braga was born on April 19, 1941, in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, in Espírito Santo. His mother was called Laura Moreira Braga, known as Lady Laura, and his father, Robertino Braga. He is the youngest of four brothers.

As a child, the future singer learned to play the guitar and piano. He also studied at the Music Conservatory of Cachoeiro de Itapemirim. Studies indicate that, to the nine years, Roberto Carlos was revealed as a singer, for the first time, on a radio show in his city.

Roberto Carlos youth and early career

As a teenager, the capixaba moved to the city of Rio de Janeiro. At the time, he became friends with a group of young people who lived in the Tijuca neighborhood, including were the singers Erasmo Carlos, Tim Maia and Jorge Ben Jor.

In his youth, Roberto Carlos I liked rock and admired American singers like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Little Richard. In the late 1950s, the young even formed a rock group called The Sputniks, with some friends, like Tim Maia, but the band didn't last long.

Young Roberto Carlos playing the guitar. — Roberto Carlos began to gain notoriety for his voice and look. [2]

With The Sputniks, Roberto Carlos participated in the program O Clube do Rock, broadcast by Tupi radio, and began to gain notoriety. For his voice and his rock n' roll look, he became known as the Brazilian Elvis Presley.

Roberto Carlos and the Young Guard

Roberto Carlos is known for having been the leader of movement cultural Young guard, which emerged in the mid-1960s. Based on pop and rock music and inspired by the singer Elvis Presley and the group The Beatles, Jovem Guarda also inspired the fashion and attitude of young Brazilians at the time.

A curiosity is that, in fact, Jovem Guarda was the name of a television program on Rede Record that Roberto Carlos presented together in Erasmo Carlos (Tremendous) It is dthe singer WanderléThe (Tenderness).

Roberto Carlos with Erasmo Carlos and Wanderléa at the time of Jovem Guarda. [3]

→ Friendship of Roberto and Erasmo Carlos

Roberto Carlos and we were Carlos they met in their teens and have been friends for over 60 years. The first meeting of the musicians was when the capixaba sought out the future Tremendão to get the lyrics to the song “Hound dog”, by Elvis Presley.

Then, the singers began an intense friendship, which was only shaken for a few months due to a disagreement related to the authorship of a composition. The musical partnership between Roberto and Erasmo yielded famous songs of Brazilian Popular Music (MPB), including “I want everything to go to hell” and “Katinha manhosa”.

Both musicians were not only work partners but also very close friends. Including, Roberto é godfather of Erasmo's son, Alexander. Erasmo Carlos passed away in December 2022. At the time, the king declared that he was deeply saddened and in great pain for the loss of his “friend of faith and comrade brother”.

See too: Tropicalismo — cultural movement led by great artists such as Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil

Wives and children of Roberto Carlos

Roberto Carlos married for the first time in 1968, with Cleonice Rossi, with whom he had two children: Roberto Carlos Segundo and Luciana. He even assumed Ana Paula, daughter of Cleonice. The singer's second marriage was to actress Myrian Rios, in 1980. At the time, the relationship between the two drew attention, as the singer was 17 years older than his wife. The two had no children.

Roberto Carlos' third wife was the educator Maria Rita Simões, whom he met in the 1970s, when the young woman was only 16 years old. As the singer has stated several times, Maria Rita was the “love of your life”. The couple also had no children. Maria Rita died in 1999 due to cancer, a fact that greatly affected the artist. Roberto Carlos composed the song “Love without limits” to honor her. See below a snippet of the song:

“When you really love someone
This love is not forgotten
Time passes, everything passes, but in the chest
love remains
And any minute away is too much
longing torments
But any minute close is too good
love only grows

The singer had one more son: Rafael Carlos Braga, the result of a brief relationship with model Maria Lucila Torres and whose paternity was confirmed through a DNA test.

Roberto Carlos' musical trajectory

the capixaba started his solo music career in 1960, when he recorded his first single, for Columbia, which had the songs “Canção de amor não” and “Brotinho”. The following year, he recorded more songs, and began to have success.

When he reached national fame, Roberto Carlos started to wear longer hair, which he assumed he straightened, and rock n ' roll style clothes. Also was known for using slang. With that, he was one of the first idols of Brazilian youth.

→ Roberto Carlos as the King of Romantic Music

After the end of the Jovem Guarda movement, in the late 1960s, Roberto Carlos specialized as a singer and composer of romantic songs. With that, the your audience, mostly juvenile, became an adult.

From that change, Roberto Carlos became known as the king of romantic music. Since then, he has been one of Brazil's leading composers and singers. The musician has also sung in English and Spanish.

Roberto Carlos has an extensive work and is considered the main singer and composer of romantic songs in Brazil. several of his compositions have been interpreted by other artists, as by singer Gal Costa, who died in 2022.

Roberto Carlos too é famous for tackling religious themes in their compositions. The album Jesus Christ, released in 1970, is one of his biggest hits.

Roberto Carlos handing out red roses at his show. — Roberto Carlos always distributes white and red roses at the end of his shows. Romanticism is one of his hallmarks. [4]

Roberto Carlos greatest hits

Check below the most famous songs of King Roberto Carlos (some in partnership with Erasmo Carlos):

The Jalopy - 1964
How Great I Love You - 1967
Jesus Christ - 1970
Under the curls of your hair - 1971
Details - 1971
Friend - 1977
Lady Laura - 1978
Emotions - 1981
Wounded Beast - 1982
That Guy Is Me - 2012

Roberto Carlos at the movies

In the last years of the 1960s, Roberto Carlos, already known throughout Brazil as a singer and composer, started participating in movies, just like The Beatles did. Erasmo Carlos also acted as an actor in some productions.

see below films by Roberto Carlos in the cinema:

Roberto Carlos in an adventure rhythm - 1967
Roberto Carlos and the Pink Diamond - 1970
Roberto Carlos at 300 km per hour - 1971

Know more: Chico Buarque — life and career of one of the biggest names in MPB

Awards and tributes to Roberto Carlos

With more than 60 years of career, Roberto Carlos collects several awards and honors. Among them, stand out:

Winner of the Press Award as best singer for several years.
Theme of the plot “Roberto Carlos in the city of fantasy”, from the school Unidos do Cabuçu (1987).
International Grammy for Best Latin American Singer (1988)
Festival Viña del Mar (Chile, 2011).
Latin Grammy for Best Album (2005).
Honored by the Beija-Flor samba school with the theme “The simplicity of a king”.

10 fun facts about Roberto Carlos

One of the main features of his personality, according to research, is that he He is very private with his personal life.. Throughout his career, he has given few interviews.
In 2004, the singer admitted to having Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and even stated that he was being treated.
A rumor that arouses curiosity about the singer is that he would have suffered an accident at the age of six while played on a train track and, therefore, would have amputated a leg, then starting to use a leg mechanics. Nonetheless, the artist never spoke on the subject.
Roberto Carlos is very Catholic. Among his songs whose theme is religion, “Jesus Christ” and “Nossa Senhora” stand out. One of the episodes that marked his life was in 1997, when he sang for Pope John Paul II.
Research indicates that the singer has lived in the Urca neighborhood, in Rio de Janeiro, for many years.
He too owns a car collection and he usually walks with them in the Rio neighborhood.
The singer likes to wear white and blue clothes a lot combined in their shows. He has already stated that he doesn't wear the colors brown and purple because of his OCD.
Since 1974, Roberto Carlos has made a year-end special broadcast by Rede Globo. In the program, the king usually receives guests.
Research shows that since the 1960s, almost every year, the king of music releases an album. Albums usually come out around Christmas.
One of the outstanding characteristics of Roberto Carlos' concerts is that, at the end of the presentation, he play roses red and white to the audience.