Paulo César Martin

Paulo César Martin, known throughout Brazilian music and media circles as Pauleta or Paulão, was a journalist, radio host and podcaster whose late-night alternative rock programme Garagem helped shape how São Paulo heard independent music from the early 1990s into the 2010s. He died in São Paulo on 15 September 2026 at the age of 62. A Folha de S.Paulo obituary by his longtime colleague Álvaro Pereira Júnior described a sudden pneumonia and a hospital stay of only about twelve hours. Earlier the same day, outlets including UOL Splash and Revista Quem reported that his family had not yet publicly stated a cause.

Born in 1964, Martin built a career that moved easily among print newsrooms, television, publishing and radio. He worked as a reporter and editor at Folha de S.Paulo and on the staff of the popular tabloid Notícias Populares. He later held editorial roles at Conrad Editora and wrote for the UOL portal, including a stretch with Universa around 2018, and worked in television production at TV Globo. Friends remembered him as patient with younger journalists, someone who could turn a chaotic pile of tips into a clean news agenda.

In 1992 he co-created Garagem, first on Gazeta FM and later on Brasil 2000 FM. Alongside André Barcinski and other collaborators, including Álvaro Pereira Júnior and André Forastieri, the show championed alternative and underground rock, sharp criticism and long interviews. Martin was the organiser behind the chaos: colleagues said he scripted, produced and kept the programme on track while others raced in at the last minute. Garagem stayed on air until 2013 and remains a reference point for Brazilian indie radio.

In later years he presented Pauleta 80/90 and Os Belos da Tarde on Rádio Antenazero and co-hosted the weekly podcast ABFP with Pereira Júnior, Barcinski and Forastieri. Luiz Thunderbird recalled speaking with him weekly about independent radio only days before his death. Peers from Gastão Moreira to the cartoonist Adão, who had worked with him at Notícias Populares, publicly mourned a generous, cultured friend obsessed with music, football and dogs.

Martin lived in the Vila Califórnia area of São Paulo, rooted in Corinthians football and Argentine football culture as much as in new playlists. He is survived by his sister Antônia, nephews and nieces, and by Jacqueline Lattari, his former wife and close friend. A wake was held at the Municipal Hospital of São Caetano do Sul; burial followed at Cemitério Cerâmica in the same city. Brazilian rock radio lost one of its most reliable curators and teachers.