João Luiz Woerdenbag Filho (born October 11, 1957), popularly known as Lobão ("''Big Wolf''", in reference to the Disney depiction of the Big Bad Wolf character), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, writer, publisher, television host and media personality. He is perhaps best known for his

hit song A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

s "Me Chama" ("''Call Me''") and " Vida Louca Vida" ("''Life, Crazy Life''") as well as seminal works ''Vida Bandida'' and '' A Vida É Doce''. Aside from his musical works, Lobão acquired a reputation for having little inhibition in expressing his opinions, as well as bluntly and publicly criticising fellow musicians, which led to a notable number of controversies and enmities. His most recent controversy was a break-up with the record industry; claiming that all major labels are conspiring to deceive their own artists (by underreporting sales and using piracy as a scapegoat), he set an independent distribution plan to sell music CDs on newsstands and through the internet. This endeavor was very successful: his independent albums sold well and were critically acclaimed. Lobão also created a magazine, ''Outracoisa'' (literally ''somethingelse'' or ''anotherthing''), which came bundled with a music CD of independent artists.

Life and career

He was born João Luiz Woerdenbag Filho on October 11, 1957, in Rio de Janeiro to João Luiz Woerdenbag, an auto mechanic working for

Rede Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965 ...

, and Ruth Araújo de Mattos, an English teacher. Lobão is of distant

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

descent. His career had beginnings at 17 years old, when he left his home to become a professional musician, first participating in a theater play featuring

Marília Pêra Marília Soares Pêra (22 January 1943 – 5 December 2015) was a Brazilian actress, singer and theater director. Throughout her career, she won around 80 awards, acting in 49 plays, 29 telenovelas and more than 20 films. Career Daughter of Port ...

then joining

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band Vímana as a drummer in 1975, with yet-to-be-known figures such as

Lulu Santos Lulu Santos, stage name of Luiz Maurício Pragana dos Santos (born May 4, 1953), is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. Career Lulu was born in Rio de Janeiro. Beginning in the progressive rock band Vímana, he left the band and embarked on a s ...

and

Ritchie Ritchie may refer to: People Surname Given name Fictional characters *Ritchie, a character in the 1986 American science fiction movie ''Howard the Duck'' *Ritchie Tozer, on the TV series ''It's a Sin'' (TV series) * Robert Ritchie (''The Wes ...

. Vímana would dissolve three years later, having a fruitless try as

Patrick Moraz Patrick Philippe Moraz (born 24 June 1948) is a Swiss musician, film composer and songwriter, best known for his tenures as keyboardist in the rock bands Yes and the Moody Blues. Born into a musical family, Moraz learned music at a young age an ...

's backing band. Lobão, still as a drummer, resumed his career playing with

Luiz Melodia Luiz Carlos dos Santos (7 January 1951 – 4 August 2017), widely known by his stage name Luiz Melodia, was a Brazilian singer-songwriter whose music was a characteristic crossover of multiple Music genres including Música popular brasileira (M ...

Walter Franco Walter Franco (6 January 1945 – 24 October 2019) was a Brazilian singer and composer. In 1998 he contributed to the Rosa Passos album '' Especial Tom Jobim''. His 1975 album ''Revolver'' was No. 50 on ''Rolling Stone''s list of the Top 100 Bra ...

and

Marina Lima Marina Correia Lima (, born September 17, 1955) is a Brazilian singer and songwriter. She is a prominent female pioneer of Brazilian rock music. Career Marina Lima began composing songs at age 17, and first achieved major success with the 1984 ...

before forming new wave-inspired band

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, several ships of the Prussian, Imperia ...

in 1980. Blitz would be disappointing for him, and he left the band for alleged ideological reasons before its eventual commercial success. However, he decided to use Blitz's rising fame to propel his solo career. One of Brazil's most influential magazines, '' ISTOÉ'', did an extensive feature with them and highlighted the group on its cover; with that issue and a demo tape in hand, Lobão soon signed with

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

. His former bandmates scratched him off the album pictures and replaced his face with a drawing of the Big Bad Wolf in retaliation. His solo debut came in 1982, titled ''Cena de Cinema''. His first backing band had

, his former Vímana bandmates Lulu Santos and Ritchie, and his Blitz bandmates Ricardo Barreto, Antônio Pedro and Billy Forghieri. Lobão only noticed that the drums were still missing 40 minutes before they had to leave the studio. He recorded the instrument in one take. The album was a commercial failure, but the label never invested in it in the first place, so it was not deemed a cost-benefit disappointment. The early 1980s also saw Lobão briefly join Júlio Barroso's innovative ensemble Gang 90 & As Absurdettes. Since 2013, Lobão also has recorded hangouts with

Olavo de Carvalho Olavo Luiz Pimentel de Carvalho (; 29 April 1947 – 24 January 2022) was a Brazilian self-proclaimed philosopher, political pundit, former astrologer, journalist, and far-right conspiracy theorist. While publishing about politics, literatur ...

other Brazilian

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

personalities.

Discography

* '' Cena de Cinema'' (1982) * '' Ronaldo foi pra Guerra'' (1984) * '' O Rock Errou'' (1986) * '' Vida Bandida'' (1987) * '' Cuidado!'' (1988) * '' Sob o Sol de Parador'' (1989) * '' Vivo'' (1990) * '' O Inferno é Fogo'' (1991) * '' Nostalgia da Modernidade'' (1995) * '' Noite'' (1998) * '' A Vida é Doce'' (1999) * ''2001: Uma Odisséia no Universo Paralelo'' (2001) * '' Canções Dentro da Noite Escura'' (2005) * '' Acústico MTV'' (2007) * ''Lobão Elétrico: Lino, Sexy & Brutal (Ao Vivo Em São Paulo)'' (2012)

References

External links

Official website
''in Portuguese''
Outracoisa magazine
''in Portuguese'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lobao 1957 births Living people Brazilian drummers Brazilian guitarists Brazilian male guitarists Brazilian rock musicians Brazilian people of Dutch descent Latin Grammy Award winners Conservatism in Brazil Virgin Records artists Música Popular Brasileira guitarists Música Popular Brasileira singers Musicians from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian rock singers Brazilian Roman Catholics