Claitom Mires

Claiton Mires came from Santana do Acaraú in Ceará, where he grew up in a musical family. He started singing early, and in 1993 he put out his first album, which he called Quero Agradecer. That song, a plain statement of thanks, caught on with Brazilian gospel listeners and gave him a foothold.

He kept recording through the 1990s, with albums like Agradecer É Preciso in 1995 and Mais Quero Agradecer two years later. The music was straightforward, built around his voice and lyrics people could sing along to. He worked with other gospel singers such as Aline Barros and Ludmila Ferber, but the core of what he did stayed close to that first hit.

In 2013 there was some noise about whether he had borrowed a melody for one of his songs, which he denied. He kept performing with a band behind him, and in 2009 there was a compilation called O Melhor de Claiton Mires. The singing itself never really changed much from where he started.