Caetano Veloso is a big name in Brazilian music. The singer was one of the creators of tropicalism, an important artistic movement in Brazil. Together with artists such as Gilberto Gil, Maria Bethânia, Gal Costa and Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso helped set the tone for what would become Brazilian music from the late 1960s until today.
Read too: Roberto Carlos — one of Brazil's most popular singers
Topics of this article
- 1 - Origin of Caetano Veloso
- 2 - Beginning of Caetano Veloso's career
- 3 - Caetano Veloso and tropicalism (or tropicália)
- 4 - Caetano Veloso and the Brazilian military dictatorship
- 5 - Post-military dictatorship and other projects by Caetano Veloso
- 6 - Main albums by Caetano Veloso
- 7 - Top songs by Caetano Veloso
- 8 - Personal life of Caetano Veloso
- 9 - Curiosities about Caetano Veloso
Origin of Caetano Veloso
Caetano Emanuel Vianna Teles Veloso was born on August 7, 1942, in Santo Amaro da Purificação, in Bahia. The singer He has six siblings, among them singer Maria Bethania, another important name in Brazilian music.
At the age of 14, Caetano went to Rio de Janeiro with his family, and when they returned to Bahia, in 1960, Caetano went to live in Salvador. It was at that time that he got his first guitar, inspired by João Gilberto (the creator of the Bossa Nova musical genre), one of his idols. During this period, the singer started singing in bars in the city with Maria Bethânia.
Soon after, Caetano started to compose for soundtracks of theater plays. In 1963, he began studying Philosophy at the Federal University of Bahia.
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Beginning of Caetano Veloso's career
The great milestone in the beginning of Caetano Veloso's career was his participation in the show Us, For Example, along with Betânia and three other big names in Brazilian music: Gal Costa, Tom Zé and Gilberto Gil, in 1964.
One year after the show, the singer dropped out of college and accompanied Maria Bethânia to Rio de Janeiro. At the time, the singer had been called to replace Nara Leão on the show. Opinion.
Maria Bethânia's success inspired the singer to record his first single. In 1965, he released songs like Samba in Peace It is Knight. As early as 1966, his music One day took fifth place at the II Festival of Brazilian Popular Music, promoted by TV Record in São Paulo.
Despite the good placement at the festival, it was the following year that one of the watersheds in Caetano Veloso's career took place. This because It was in 1967 that Caetano Veloso released his first album, Sunday, with the singer Gal Costa.
![Caetano Veloso performing at the third edition of the Festival da Música Popular Brasileira, in 1967. [2]](/f/baa2fbae45ff89d73a7cfac994d8115b.jpg)
It was also the year of the third edition of the Brazilian Popular Music Festival. At the 1967 festival, Caetano sang Joy Joy, with the Argentine band Beat Boys. The performance is one of the most memorable in Brazilian music.
Caetano Veloso and tropicalism (or tropicália)
Caetano Veloso is considered one of the main names responsible for the creation of the tropicalism (or tropicalia), a cultural movement that emerged in the late 1960s.
In addition to music, he involved other artistic forms, such as theater, cinema, poetry and plastic arts. The movement had many objectives, among them the creation of Brazilian and original art., whether or not rereading foreign elements.
A musical landmark of tropicália was the album manifest Tropicália or Panis Et Circensis, from 1968. The joint album brought together artists such as Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Os Mutantes, Nara Leão, Gal Costa and Tom Zé.
In the same year, Caetano Veloso performs with Os Mutantes, singing the song It is forbidden to forbid, when he is booed by the public and suffers repression from the military dictatorship at the time.
In December, the singer and Gilberto Gil were arrested by the military regime and later exiled to London.
Caetano Veloso and the Brazilian military dictatorship
Like many other artists of the time, Caetano Veloso suffered repression during the Brazilian military dictatorship, having been exiled to London. During this period, he recorded two albums, the self-titled Caetano Veloso, from 1971, and the album fuck, from 1972.
In 1972, he managed to return to Brazil. The 1970s were full of successes in the artist's career. In 1976, the project Os Doces Bárbaros appeared, composed by Caetano, Gil, Gal and Bethânia. The band played shows all over Brazil, resulting in a double project album, the Candy Bárbaros — Live, plus a documentary.
Post-military dictatorship and other projects by Caetano Veloso
In the 1980s, Caetano Veloso ventured into other projects. In that decade, Caetano hosted the TV show Chico and Gaetano, with Chico Buarque, directed the movie Spoken Cinema It is released the disc Totally awesome.
Also featured on the soap opera's soundtrack Tieta, a great classic of Brazilian television drama, from 1989. The music for the soap opera was made with Carlinhos Brown, a rookie until then.
During the 1980s and 1990s, the artist became a frequent fixture on national TV shows, further increasing his fame and the notoriety of his music.
See too: Tom Jobim — another important name in Brazilian music
Caetano Veloso top albums
Caetano Veloso (1968)
Caetano Veloso (1969)
fuck (1972)
animal (1977)
See him (1984)
Caetano Veloso top songs
Joy Joy (1968)
The Little Lion (1977)
You are beautiful (1983)
Alone (1998)
You didn't teach me to forget you (2003)
Personal life of Caetano Veloso
The singer was married twice. His first marriage was in 1967, with actress Dedé Gadelha, with whom he had his first child, Moreno Veloso. He separated in 1986, the same year he married again, this time to Paula Lavigne. With Lavigne he had two more children, Zeca Veloso and Tom Veloso. The couple split in 2005, getting back together in 2016. All three of his children pursued musical careers..
Facts about Caetano Veloso
Caetano Veloso is well known for his compositions for other artists. The singer signs songs for artists like Gal Costa and Maria Bethânia.
The singer has already written dozens of songs that were performed by his sister Maria Bethânia, such as It's agreed, from 1988, and reconvex, from 1989.
Throughout his career, Caetano has recorded more than 50 albums, including studio and live works.
The singer has already received two American Grammys and 13 Latin Grammys.
He has several awards and honors in Brazilian music.
image credits
[1] A.PAES / Shutterstock
[2] National Archives / Wikimedia Commons (reproduction)
[3] 26th Brazilian Music Award / Wikimedia Commons (reproduction)
By Miguel Souza
Journalist
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The movement that caused controversy in the 1960s.
