Nelson Gonçalves (June 21, 1919 – April 18, 1998) was a Brazilian singer and songwriter. Born Antônio Gonçalves Sobral in

Santana do Livramento Santana do Livramento is a city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It is located along the border with the city of Rivera, Uruguay, forming together an international city of almost 170,000 inhabitants. Santana do Livramento was founded on J ...

, Rio Grande do Sul, he was raised in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

. As a young man, he worked at a variety of menial jobs, including

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

, before embarking on a career in music that saw him become one of the most popular Brazilian radio singers of the 1950s. Nelson Gonçalves had a very productive collaboration with lyricist

Adelino Moreira Adelino may refer to: People * Adelino (given name) * Adelino (footballer, born 1994), Brazilian football striker Places * Adelino, New Mexico, American census-designated place * Tome-Adelino, New Mexico, American former census-designated pl ...

and recorded numerous successful albums. One of the great

crooner Crooner is a term used to describe primarily male singers who performed using a smooth style made possible by better microphones which picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to access a more dynamic range ...

s of the day, he gained an international following and appeared at venues such as

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

in New York City. Nelson sold more than 62 million albums around the globe and is the second best-selling Brazilian artist of all time, behind

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his care ...

(77 million). His personal life was sometimes filled with turmoil and at one time, a cocaine addiction almost destroyed his career. Having an outstanding singing voice, he was known to have a stutter in his regular speech. Nelson Gonçalves died of a heart attack at the age of 79. On his passing, Nelson Gonçalves was buried at Cemitério São João Batista in Rio de Janeiro. In 2001, director

Elizeu Ewald Elizeu is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Elizeu (footballer, born 1945), full name Elizeu Antônio Ferreira Vinagre Godoy, Brazilian football midfielder * Elizeu (footballer, born 1979), full name Elizeu Ferreira Marciano, Br ...

filmed a

docu-drama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docum ...

about his life.

References

1919 births 1998 deaths People from Rio Grande do Sul 20th-century Brazilian male singers 20th-century Brazilian singers Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Burials at Cemitério de São João Batista {{Brazil-singer-stub