Benito di Paula

Uday Vellozo was born on 28 November 1941 in Nova Friburgo, in the mountainous Região Serrana of Rio de Janeiro state. He was the son of José Vellozo, a railway worker on the Leopoldina line, and Maria, and one of 13 children in a family of humble means. His father, of Romani (cigano) descent, played piano, mandolin and guitar as an amateur, led a carnival block and a regional group, and music filled the house. Watching him, the boy taught himself several instruments. His brothers Ney and Jota Vellozo also became musicians.

As a teenager of about 15 or 16 he was invited by Alfredo Motta, an early promoter, to sing at the Hotel Avenida in central Nova Friburgo. The two chose the stage name Benito, and he added "di Paula" to give it an Italian sound.

Benito di Paula had no formal musical training and described himself as self-taught. He learned guitar and then piano by ear, first from his father at home and later in the nightclubs where he worked, and he even gave guitar lessons to beginners. He liked to say his real schooling was life itself: "I am the people, thank God. I lived on the Morro da Formiga, in the favela, in the dives of Santos. My diploma is from life." At 17 he did his military service in the Brazilian Army in Rio de Janeiro.

After the army he worked as a crooner in Rio de Janeiro nightclubs, notably the Balalaika in Copacabana, singing many genres. Friends then invited him to Santos and São Paulo, where he played piano in bars and clubs, including the Catedral do Samba in Bixiga, and where his career took root.

His first recording, "Final", was made with Portinho e sua Orquestra and later issued on a Continental single with "Bem Feito". A 1968 single paired his "Canção para o Nosso Amor" with "Andança"; early copies still carried the name Uday Vellozo. "Canção para o Nosso Amor" became the theme of TV Tupi's telenovela Nino, o Italianinho in 1969, and Ronnie Von recorded his song "Foi Bom". In 1970 "Faça de Mim uma Ilha" won the Chico Viola prize from TV Record.

Copacabana Records issued his first LP, Benito di Paula, in 1971, followed by Ela (1972). "Retalhos de Cetim" (1973) made him a star and was covered by Jair Rodrigues, Paul Mauriat's orchestra and Charlie Byrd. Gravado ao Vivo (1974) brought "Charlie Brown", "Beleza que É Você Mulher" and "Além de Tudo", and Roberto Carlos recorded his "Quero Ver Você de Perto". In 1975 he hosted Brasil Som 75 on TV Tupi, released "Mulher Brasileira", "Vai Ficar na Saudade" and "Bandeira do Samba", and played MIDEM in Cannes with a Brazilian delegation including Gilberto Gil, Paulinho da Viola, Jorge Ben Jor, Beth Carvalho and Elizeth Cardoso. "Charlie Brown" became an international hit. In 1976 came "Tudo Está no Seu Lugar", written for his mother, and "Do Jeito que a Vida Quer". He also recorded in Spanish (Caprichos de la Vida, 1978) and his records sold in several European languages.

In 1980 he hosted O Som do Brasil for Silvio Santos's TVS. He moved to WEA in 1981, scoring with "Ah! Como Eu Amei" by his brothers Jota and Ney Vellozo, then to RGE, where "Amigo do Sol, Amigo da Lua" (1984) became a theme in A Gata Comeu. Nação (1985) featured Grande Otelo and Tonico & Tinoco. Later albums included Fazendo Paixão (1990), A Vida Me Faz Viver (1992), Pode Acreditar (1994, with Chico Anysio and a tribute to Ayrton Senna) and Baileiro (1996).

After 13 years without a new record he released a live CD and his first DVD, recorded at Vivo Rio, with EMI in 2009. He returned with Essa Felicidade É Nossa (2017, with Fernanda Takai as a guest), O Infalível Zen (2021) with his son Rodrigo Vellozo, and the EP Do Jeito que a Vida Quer (2023). Across his career he released more than 35 records.

Benito di Paula settled in São Paulo, the city that launched him, and raised his family there. In a 1997 Folha de S.Paulo interview he was described as divorced and the father of three children. His son Rodrigo Vellozo, a singer, pianist and actor trained at the Conservatório Brasileiro de Música and Berklee, became his closest musical partner on records and on stage. His son André Vancellote Vellozo died in Rio de Janeiro on 13 September 2019, aged 36; the family did not disclose the cause and asked for privacy. Benito's first grandchild, Aurora, daughter of Rodrigo and Carolina Bellezi, was born on 3 August 2021, and he wrote the song "Aurora" for her.

For more than 30 years he lived in a house in Morumbi, São Paulo, which was expropriated in 2014 for the expansion of metro Line 4. With the compensation he bought an apartment in Jardins, and he later spoke of a period of depression around the move. He was godfather to nearly 30 children named after him across Brazil, according to Folha in 1997.

Benito di Paula was proud of being a popular artist. He rejected labels such as "samba-joia", "brega" and "cafona", saying he was not a soda bottle to be labelled, and argued that being commercial was no sin: "I wanted to be the Beatles. What could be more commercial?" He called himself a "sambeiro" rather than a sambista and a "pianeiro" rather than a pianist. He criticised radio and the disposable music industry, insisting that "music has to be eternal, it is not chewing gum."

He disliked the term "samba paulista" as pejorative, noting that no one called Dorival Caymmi's samba Bahian. In a 2018 Folha interview he said he had never voted, that he detested politics, and described himself as an anarchist. His 1985 album Nação nonetheless criticised the treatment of Indigenous peoples and celebrated Brazil's return to democracy.

Benito di Paula was one of the defining voices of Brazilian popular music in the 1970s and is often cited among the best-selling artists in the country's history, with reports of more than 50 million records sold. His piano-driven, romantic samba is widely seen as a forerunner of the romantic pagode of the 1990s, and later critics and researchers reassessed a body of work long dismissed by tastemakers.

His songs have been recorded by Roberto Carlos, Jair Rodrigues, Alcione, Paulinho Moska, Grupo Revelação, Xande de Pilares, Two Man Sound and Sylvia Vrethammar, among many others. The tribute album Benito 80: Novo Samba Sempre Novo (2022) gathered João Bosco, Teresa Cristina, Juçara Marçal and Xande de Pilares. In 2025 the São Paulo samba school Águia de Ouro built its carnival parade around his life and songs, and in 2026 Rodrigo Vellozo released an album of his father's songs.

1970: Chico Viola prize (TV Record) for "Faça de Mim uma Ilha". 1976: Troféu Imprensa for best singer, competing with Roberto Carlos and Chico Buarque. 2021 to 2022: 80th birthday celebrated with the album O Infalível Zen and the tribute album Benito 80: Novo Samba Sempre Novo. 2025: Honoured by the samba school Águia de Ouro with the São Paulo carnival theme "Em Retalhos de Cetim, a Águia de Ouro do jeito que a vida quer".

Benito di Paula was a constant presence on Brazilian television. He gave a celebrated early performance on Chacrinha's show on TV Tupi, and he sang on the final Chacrinha programme on 2 July 1988. He hosted Brasil Som 75 on TV Tupi and O Som do Brasil on TVS in 1980. His songs featured in telenovelas including Nino, o Italianinho, O Espigão, O Homem Proibido, A Gata Comeu, Ti Ti Ti and Dona Xepa. Notable interviews include Jô Soares Onze e Meia (1994), Canal Brasil's O Som do Vinil (2019), The Noite with Danilo Gentili (2017), Sr. Brasil on TV Cultura and Conversa com Bial (2022). In 1997 he published the short story collection Cantos e Contos do Benito di Paula.

In 1971 his first LP included Chico Buarque's "Apesar de Você", a song targeted by the military regime's censors, and the record was withdrawn from shops and radio. He later recalled having to change the word "expulsado" to "exportado" in "Proteção às Borboletas" to satisfy censors. Throughout the 1970s he clashed with critics who dismissed his style as "samba-joia" and cafona, and he answered them in songs such as "Osso Duro de Roer" (1977). His satirical "Assobiar e Chupar Cana" took aim at celebrities who posed as singers, with Pelé as a principal target. In 2013 and 2014 he publicly disputed the São Paulo city government's compensation offer when his Morumbi home was expropriated for the metro.

Benito di Paula died on Sunday 18 October 2026 in São Paulo, aged 84, at the Hospital 9 de Julho, where he had been admitted. His press office confirmed the death. According to Folha de S.Paulo and CNN Brasil, the cause was prostate cancer, which he had been treating for about a year. Details of the wake and burial had not been released at the time of the first reports. Only three months earlier, in July 2026, he had appeared in Benito 85, a show created by his son Rodrigo Vellozo to celebrate his 85th birthday, which would have fallen on 28 November 2026.