Roberto Carlos

Roberto Carlos was born in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Brazil in 1941. He started playing music as a teenager and formed his first band, The Sputniks, in the late 1950s. His debut album 'Louco por Você' came out in 1961 and found an audience almost immediately.

His songs like 'Como É Grande o Meu Amor Por Você' and 'Amor Perfeito' became staples of Brazilian radio. The music was straightforward and romantic, built around simple melodies and direct lyrics about love and relationships. He worked regularly with Erasmo Carlos, who co-wrote many of his early hits.

Roberto Carlos recorded steadily through the 1960s and 1970s, putting out albums like 'Roberto Carlos em Ritmo de Aventura' in 1967 and a self-titled record in 1971. His wife Cleonice died in a car accident in 1973, which affected both his life and his writing for years afterward.

He kept performing and recording into the 1980s and beyond, playing shows across Latin America and Europe. The songs themselves never really changed format, they were still built around the same clear vocal melodies and uncomplicated arrangements that had worked from the beginning.