Michel Teló () (born 21 January 1981) is a
Brazilian sertanejo singer-songwriter and actor. Before his solo act, he was a lead singer in various bands, most notably Grupo Tradição.
His biggest national and international hit "
Ai Se Eu Te Pego
"Ai Se Eu Te Pego" (; English: "Oh, If I Catch You") is a 2008 Brazilian song by Sharon Acioly and Antônio Dyggs, with co-authorship by Aline da Fonseca, Amanda Teixeira and Karine Assis Vinagre and first performed by Os Meninos de Seu Zeh, dir ...
" reached number one in most European and Latin American charts.
Teló's artistic career began in 1987 when he made his first solo performance in his school choir, singing a piece by
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 car ...
and
Erasmo Carlos
Erasmo Carlos (born Erasmo Esteves; 5 June 1941 – 22 November 2022) was a Brazilian singer and songwriter, most closely associated with his friend and longtime collaborator Roberto Carlos (no relation). Together, they created many chart hi ...
. At ten, his father gave him an
accordion. At age 12, upon encouragement by neighbors, school friends, and his brothers, he formed a band, "Guri," which played traditional music. He was the band's lead singer and composer. Besides his love for the harmonica, Teló also took piano lessons for five years. He was also a dancer and played the accordion, harmonica, and guitar.
Grupo Tradição (1997–2008)
In 1997, Teló joined the band Grupo Tradição where he sang the band's biggest hits, such as "Barquinho", "O Caldeirão", "Pra Sempre Minha Vida", "A Brasileira", and "Eu Quero Você."
In 2008, he left Grupo Tradição, and his final album with the band, ''Micareta Sertaneja 2'', was nominated for a Latin Grammy in the Brazilian music category.
He was replaced by Guilherme Bertoldo, but the band had lost most of its appeal due to his departure and soon members began to quit the band, not having enough trust in the viability of the band without Teló.
Solo career (2008–present)

Teló’s debut solo album ''Balada Sertaneja'' was released in 2009 by Brazilian record label
Som Livre
Som Livre (Portuguese for "''Free Sound''") is a Brazilian record company that was founded in 1969 in order to commercialize its soap opera soundtracks. It later expanded to recording studio albums.
Today, Som Livre is Brazil's largest domestic l ...
.
It was produced by Ivan Myazato and had two charting singles: "''Ei, psiu! Beijo me liga''" and "''Amanhã sei lá''".
The release of the live album ''Michel Teló – Ao Vivo'' earned him a
gold disc
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
and featured the single “''Fugidinha'',” which reached number one in the Brazilian Hot 100 charts.
Throughout 2011, Teló played over 240 shows.
According to ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' magazine, Teló's ''Fugidinha Tour'' was attended by more than 17 million people, and Teló reportedly made $18 million alone in 2011. Teló has also released two DVDs, one containing songs from the 1980/90s and in collaboration with
Milionário & José Rico,
Bruno e Marrone, and
João Bosco & Vinícius, and the other, entitled ''Michel Na Balada'', which contained new songs.
In 2014, Michel Teló worked with
Prince Royce
Geoffrey Royce Rojas (born May 11, 1989), known professionally as Prince Royce, is an American singer. At an early age, Royce took an interest in music, and in his teenage years began experimenting with music and writing poetry. By age nineteen ...
to create a Portuguese version of Royce's song "
Darte un Beso
"Darte un Beso" ( English: "Give You a Kiss") is a 2013 bachata song by American singer Prince Royce. The single became an international hit for Prince Royce in the United States, Latin America and Spain. At the Latin Grammy Awards of 2014, the ...
". The pair performed it live together for the first time at the Premios Billboard Latin Awards ceremony in late April of that year.
International fame

In 2011, Telo released "''Ai Se Eu Te Pego''," which became popular when Brazilian soccer player
Neymar
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (born 5 February 1992), known as Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazil national team. A prolific goalscorer and renowned play ...
danced to the song in a viral YouTube video.
In the
Spanish professional league,
Marcelo
Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus. The Italian version of the name is Marcello, differing in having an additional "l". Marcelo may refer to:
*Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapi ...
and
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...
of
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
danced to the song when Ronaldo scored the first goal against
Málaga on October 22, 2011. On October 29, 2011, Brazilian left-back
André Santos danced to “''Ai Se Eu Te Pego''” after scoring the 2–2 equalizer in
Arsenal's 5–3 victory over London rivals
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...
. In the
Superleague Greece
The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...
,
Simão Mate,
Cleyton,
Sebastián Leto
Sebastián Eduardo Leto (born 30 August 1986) is a former Argentine professional footballer who played as a winger or forward.He is now assistant manager at Al-Gharafa SC.
Club career
Lanús
Born in Alejandro Korn, Leto began his career wit ...
, and other
Panathinaikos' players danced to it when Cleyton scored the first goal against
PAOK on October 30, 2011. Other players who have publicly celebrated to this song include:
Adrian Mierzejewski,
Marco Reus
Marco Reus (; born 31 May 1989) is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or forward. He captains Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and plays for the Germany national team.
Reus spent his youth career at Borussia ...
,
Lewis Holtby
Lewis Harry Holtby (born 18 September 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Holstein Kiel.
Holtby began his professional career with Alemannia Aachen before signing for Schalke 04 two years later. He was ...
,
Alexandre Pato,
Kevin-Prince Boateng,
Robinho
Robson de Souza ( or , born 25 January 1984), known as Robinho (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward.
In 1999, at 15 years of age, Robinho was picked by Brazil legend Pelé as his heir apparent and, in 2002 ...
,
Lucas,
Maxi Rodríguez,
Sebastián Coates
Sebastián Coates Nion (; born 7 October 1990) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a centre back. He captains Portuguese club Sporting CP and plays for the Uruguay national team.
Having begun his career at Nacional, where he wa ...
,
Marquinhos
Marcos Aoás Corrêa (born 14 May 1994), known as Marquinhos, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain, which he captains, and the Brazil national team. Mainly a centre-back, he can ...
,
Ricardo Laborde,
Felipe Melo
Felipe Melo de Carvalho (born 26 June 1983), known as Felipe Melo, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Fluminense.
He began his career with Campeonato Brasileiro Série A teams Flamengo, Cruzeir ...
,
Emmanuel Eboué
Emmanuel Eboué (born 4 June 1983) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a right back.
Formed at ASEC Mimosas, he moved to Europe to play for Belgium's Beveren in 2002. He spent most of his career, from 2005 to 2011, with Ar ...
, and
Farid El Alagui.
Awards and nominations
Teló won the award for "Best Tormentone" at the 2012
TRL Awards.
In April of that year, Michel Teló sang "''Oh If I Catch You''" at the
Billboard Latin Music Awards
The ''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards grew out of the ''Billboard'' Music Awards program from ''Billboard'' magazine, an industry publication charting the sales and radio airplay success of musical recordings. The ''Billboard'' awards are the La ...
, but he was not nominated for any awards.
In 2013, Michel Teló was nominated for seven categories for the Billboard Latin Music Awards.
He won Song of the Year for “''Ai Se Eu Te Pego''.”
In 2015, his compilation ''Bem Sertanejo'' was nominated for the
16th Latin Grammy Awards in the
Best Sertaneja Music Album category.
In 2020, his album ''Churrasco do Teló Vol. 2'' was nominated for the
21st Latin Grammy Awards in the
Best Sertaneja Music Album category.
In
the following edition, his album ''Pra Ouvir no Fone'' was nominated for the same category.
Discography
Studio albums
*2009: ''Balada Sertaneja''
Compilation albums
*2014: ''Bem Sertanejo''
Live albums
*2010: ''Michel Teló Ao Vivo''
*2011: ''
Michel na Balada''
*2013: ''
Sunset
Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spr ...
''
*2015: ''Baile do Teló''
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Telo, Michel
1981 births
Living people
People from Paraná (state)
Brazilian people of Italian descent
21st-century Brazilian male singers
21st-century Brazilian singers
Brazilian child singers
Sertanejo musicians
Brazilian composers
Sony Music Latin artists