the encyclopedic entry of Cazuza

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Cazuza

Cazuza (April 4, 1958 — July 7, 1990) was a Brazilian composer, singer and poet, born Agenor Miranda Araújo Neto in Rio de Janeiro. Along with Raul Seixas, Renato Russo and Os Mutantes, Cazuza is considered one of the best exponents of Brazilian rock music.

Biography

Early life and influences

Son of the phonographic producer João Araújo and the amateur singer Maria Lúcia Araújo, Cazuza always had close contact with music. Influenced since early childhood by the strong values of Brazilian music, he had a special preference for the sad, dramatic overtones of Cartola, Lupicinio Rodrigues, Dolores Durán, and Maysa. He began to write lyrics and poems around 1965. In late 1974, a vacation in London, England, acquainted him with the music of Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, and the Rolling Stones, and he soon became a great fan. Cazuza enrolled in college in 1978, but abandoned the course of journalism three weeks later to work with his father at Som Livre. He moved later to San Francisco, where he came in contact with beat literature, becoming highly influenced by it.

Barão Vermelho

In 1980 he returned to Rio, where he worked with the theatrical group Asdrúbal Trouxe o Trombone (Asdrúbal Brought the Trombone). There he was noticed by the novice singer/composer Leo Jayme, who introduced him to a beginning rock band that needed a vocalist, the Barão Vermelho. With this very successful eighties Brazilian rock band, who had their greatest success with Bete Balanço, a song that was part of the soundtrack of a film, Cazuza began his career as a singer. In 1985, Cazuza took part in Rock in Rio with Barão Vermelho, and around this time, Caetano Veloso claimed he was the greatest Brazilian poet of his generation. It was also in this same year that Cazuza was infected with the AIDS virus, precipitating his desire to leave the band in order to obtain a greater freedom in composition and expression, both musically and lyrically.

Solo career

After he left the band, Cazuza's music began to diversify, incorporating elements of the blues in songs such as Blues da Piedade (Blues of Compassion), Só as mães são felizes (Only Mothers Are Happy) and Balada da Esplanada (Ballad of the Esplanade), which was based on a poem of the same name by Oswald de Andrade, showcasing increasingly intimate lyrics, like those in Só se for a Dois (Only If It Will Be Two), as well as opening itself up to influences from Brazilian pop music with interpretations of Cartola's O Mundo é um Moinho, Raul Seixas's Cavalos Calados (Silent Horses) and Caetano Veloso's Esse Cara (This Guy).

Contrary to what usually happens once an artist leaves a band that has made them famous, Cazuza's solo career proved to be more successful than that of his former group. Exagerado (Exaggerated), O Tempo não Pára (Time Doesn't Stop), and Ideologia (Ideology) were his greatest hits and proved to be a great influence on subsequent Brazilian musicians.

Final years

In 1989, he admitted publicly for the first time that he had AIDS and released his last album: Burguesia. Cazuza was openly bisexual but was not active in the gay movement. However his openness about being a person with AIDS helped to change public perceptions and attitudes about HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

Death

Cazuza died in Rio de Janeiro on July 7, 1990 at the age of 32 from an AIDS related illness. He was buried at the Cemitério São João Batista Botafogo, in Rio de Janeiro. Cazuza's mother set up the Viva Cazuza Society (Sociedade Viva Cazuza), a charity which sponsors AIDS prevention and provides a home for HIV-positive children