Chico Buarque | |
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Chico Buarque receiving the best book award at the 5th BRAVO! Prime de Cultura in 2009.
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Born |
Francisco Buarque de Hollanda June 19, 1944 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
Residence | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
Other names | Chico Buarque |
Occupation |
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Years active | 1962–present |
Notable work | Construção, Cálice |
Home town |
São Paulo, Brazil Rome, Italy |
Spouse(s) | Marieta Severo (m. 1966; div. 1999) |
Children |
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Musical career | |
Genres | |
Instruments |
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Labels | |
Associated acts | |
Website | chicobuarque |
Francisco "Chico" Buarque de Hollanda (born June 19, 1944 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈʃiku buˈaʁki]), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic and cultural commentary on Brazil in general and Rio de Janeiro in particular.
The firstborn son of Sérgio Buarque de Hollanda, Buarque lived at several locations throughout his childhood, though mostly in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Rome, Italy. He wrote and studied literature as a child and found music through the bossa nova compositions of Tom Jobim and João Gilberto. He performed as a singer and guitarist the 1960s as well as writing a play that was deemed dangerous by the Brazilian military dictatorship of the time. Buarque, along with several Tropicalist and MPB musicians, was threatened by the Brazilian military government and eventually left Brazil for Italy in 1969. However, he came back to Brazil in 1970, and continued to record, perform, and write, though much of his material was suppressed by government censors. He released several more albums in the 1980s and published three novels in the 1990s and 2000s.
Buarque came from an intellectually privileged family background—his father Sérgio Buarque de Holanda was a well-known historian, sociologist and journalist and his mother Maria Amélia Cesário Alvim was a painter and pianist. He is also brother of the singer Miúcha and politician Ana de Hollanda. As a child, he was impressed by the musical style of bossa nova, specifically the work of Tom Jobim and João Gilberto. He was also interested in writing, composing his first short story at 18 years old and studying European literature, also at a young age. One of his most consuming interests, however, was playing football, beginning at age four, which he still does today. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Buarque spent much of his childhood there and in São Paulo and Italy.