Brazil has two kings whom it proclaims aloud and to whom it surrenders equally in admiration. One of them is Pelé, the football star, and the other Roberto Carlos, the romantic and compulsive musical icon, who at the age of 80 continues to captivate the audience in Latin America and in the world.
A biography that recounts in detail and without a sensational tone the singer’s life since childhood, going through her dramas, triumphs, mysteries and obsessions, comes to light on Monday, April 19, the same day the octogenarian artist celebrates his birthday.
Recognized worldwide for hits such as “El cacharrito”, “Un gato en la sombra”, “Concavo y Convexo”, “Amada amor” and “Yo solo quiero” (a million friends), the multiple Grammy winner had a life of luxury and happiness, but also of obstacles and deep sadness.
Amputation of part of a leg when he was only six years old, death of his three wives, blindness of one of his sons, His “panic” in his old age and his obsessive-compulsive disorder, for which he wears only white and blue and which led him to veto some of his songs from his repertoires, are some examples.
Written by Brazilian journalist Jotabé Medeiros, who accompanied the artist’s career for 35 years, biography called “That’s why this voice is so loud” (That’s why this huge voice) It was launched by Still publishing house, with the risk of being vetoed by justice, as it already happened with the first work that told the life of the singer.
In 2007, at the artist’s request, the court ordered that all copies of the biography “Roberto Carlos in detail”, written by Brazilian historian Paulo César de Araujo, be removed from circulation.
“That work was the only one that opened historiography around him, because there are many books that deal with aspects of his career, but the only one that dealt with his whole life was that book,” Medeiros told Efe in a phone call. interview.
The journalist added that if someone else wanted to write a book of that style, they would have to go through the artist’s entire journey again. Having pursued his career since 1986 and witnessed various events – which gave him “a certain advantage” – he decided to take on that challenge.
“For past problems I had to do an investigation in which I went back to my roots to say how Roberto became what he is. This is something that so far not even Brazilians have been able to explain well,” he said. he said. said.
Medeiros assures that he “does not write” authorized biographies, but as a good reporter he asked for the artist’s concept on some “controversial” topics, before the book was published. Whether he read it or not is still a “mystery.”
In the book, the journalist immerses himself in Roberto Carlos’ musical training since childhood in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, a municipality in the state of Espíritu Santo, where he was born on April 19, 1941, going through his explosion of Brazilian rock star in the 60s, until he became the “king of romantic song” a decade later.
“Then he made a cultural assimilation related to North American ‘black music’ (…), recorded funk and soul songs and when he reached the 70’s he made more orchestral music and has others with a bit of ecological activism” . he explained the author.
Later, Roberto Carlos began to make a “more erotic” genre with songs such as “Cama y mesa” and “Cabalgada”, which was known in Brazil as the “motorcycle phase”.
JULIO IGLESIAS, ONLY MUSICAL RIVAL
“This takes a while and from there it goes to the ‘exacerbated romantic phase, in which he will later find a single rival who is not Brazilian: Julio Iglesias,'” Medeiros said.
According to the journalist, Roberto Carlos and Julio Iglesias had a dispute over the “territory” at a certain point in their careers, a battle that they only fought on stage and for which they never became friends.
Among the curious facts that are revealed for the first time in this biography is the obligatory visit that Roberto Carlos made to the Apollo Theater in Harlem in the 1960s, whenever he traveled to New York, as it was considered the “temple”. from black music, through which stars like James Brown or Ella Fitzgerald passed.
PROTECTED FROM PUBLIC LIFE
At the age of 80, Roberto Carlos has already announced that his next tour will be in 2022 and that a film about his life will be released in the same year, according to an interview sent by his media office, which included only a few questions from the over 60 sent to him by various journalists on his birthday.
Retired from the pandemic in the apartment from which he protected himself and from public life since 1980, the Brazilian artist revealed that he returned to composing.
Since releasing his first album in 1961, he has produced one album annually until 2005, all of which have been successful, and since 1965 he has used the same strategy for his Spanish productions. After that, he released only two productions, with four songs each in 2012 and 2017.