Reginaldo Rossi

An extremely popular artist of the brega repertory, Reginaldo Rossi attracted crowds to his performances -- he played for 80,000 people in Salvador at the Parque de Exposições. Beginning his artistic career in 1964 (the soon-to-be Jovem Guarda times) in the Silver Jets, this former engineering student and math teacher recorded his first album for Chantecler in 1965, but his first hit came with "O Pão" (1967). After having written 50 songs, of which some were protest songs and others Italian romantic style, he started a tour of Brazil. The real consecration, though, came with "Mon Amour, Meu Bem, Ma Femme," which had over 50 re-recordings. Other smashes were "A Raposa e as Uvas" and the biggest of them all, "Garçom." Reginaldo Rossi had over 300 recorded compositions and performed an average of 25 shows throughout Brazil every month. His more than 50 albums yielded 14 gold records, two platinum, a double platinum, and a diamond one. In the '70s, he decided to leave the "youth music" scene and dedicated himself to the overly sentimental repertory known as brega. Despised in the Southeast (Rio and São Paulo mainly, where everything "happens" in Brazil), he nevertheless remained a hugely popular artist in Northeast. In the '90s, the whole revival of Jovem Guarda and a different attitude from audiences and critics revived his works and enthroned Rossi as a creative artist, propelling reissues of 18 of his previously out-of-print albums. ~ Alvaro Neder, Rovi