Chico Buarque

Master of national song lyrics, Chico stands out as the great social popular poet in Brazil, apart from showing himself to be particularly original and sensitive when writing songs with women as the first person.

After emerging with A Banda (The band), in TV Record's MPB Festival in 1966, Chico intensified his incursions into themes with political implications such as "Pedro pedreiro" (Pedro the bricklayer), "Roda viva", "Construcão" (Construction) and others. After a period of time when he exiled himself in Europe, he returned to Brazil in the early '70s, thereby enduring the consequences of the authoritarian regime then in power. Many of his songs were censored. His recordings provided rallying cries and subtle encouragement during the worst period of dictatorship.

The son of a great Brazilian historian, Sérgio Buarque de Hollanda, Chico himself also has a certain prestige in intellectual circles. Having distinguished himself as a playwright in the '60s (with "Roda viva") and '70s ("Calabar," "Gota D'água"), in the '90s he has successfully taken to literature. His novels "Estorvo" and "Benjamim" have been translated abroad. Among other songs of his that have become classics are: "Apesar de Voca," "Atrás da Porta" (Behind the door), "Tatuagem" (Tattoo) and "O que sera" (What will be). —Courtesy Calabash Music