Roberto Carlos Live in Concert

Brazilian pop-rock trailblazer Roberto Carlos is known to many as “the King of Latin Music.” With a career spanning more than half a century, Carlos has sold more than 140 million albums globally and is considered one of the most influential pop artists in Brazil and the world. With the help of co-writer and frequent collaborator Erasmo Carlos, Roberto Carlos has written more than three dozen Top 10-charting singles.

Born to a lower middle-class family in 1941, Carlos began playing the guitar and piano as a child. At just 9 years old, he performed for the first time at a children’s show broadcast by Rádio Cachoeiro, where he won first prize and became a regular performer.

As a teenager, Carlos moved to Rio de Janeiro and formed a band originally called the Snacks, which was later renamed the Sputniks. In the late ’50s, Carlos went solo and performed bossa nova in the style of Brazilian singer João Gilberto. When his first full-length album, 1961’s Louco Por Você (Crazy for You), failed to achieve commercial success, Carlos switched back to rock music.

As a pop/rock musician, Carlos drew influence from then-popular American and British acts such as Little Richard, Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles. He eventually became the face of “Jovem Guarda” (Young Guard), which started as a TV show hosted by Carlos but eventually became a catchphrase for a Brazilian musical movement influenced by the Western midcentury rock and roll wave. Carlos’ 1964 album, É Proibido Fumar, especially exemplified this upbeat sound and style, also known in Brazil as iê-iê-iê (“yeah-yeah-yeah”).

In the late ’60s, Carlos began to pivot his artistry to specialize more in love songs. Along with close collaborator Erasmo Carlos, Roberto Carlos penned now-famous hits such as “Detalhes,” “Sua Estupidez,” “Jesus Cristo,” and “Debaixo dos Caracóis dos Seus Cabelos,” earning him Grammy accolades and top chart placements in Latin America. Carlos’ love songs became especially popular in neighboring Argentina, and by the ’70s, he had become the best-selling Brazilian musician in history.

In 1988, Carlos won a Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance, plus several Latin Grammys in the early 2000s. In 2015, the Latin Recording Academy honored him with the prestigious Person of the Year award. In 2009, Carlos celebrated his 50th anniversary as a performer, touring through North and South America to honor the achievement alongside fans. More recently, Carlos released his 2018 Spanish-language album Amor Sin Límite, which featured duets with Jennifer Lopez (“Llegaste”) and Alejandro Sanz (“Esa Mujer”).