CAZUZA

Cazuza (April 4, 1958 - July 7, 1990) was a bisexual Brazilian composer, singer and poet.Born Agenor de Araújo Miranda in Rio de Janeiro, he started as singer in the Brazilian rock band "Barão Vermelho". In 1989 he admited for the first time that he had AIDS and released his last album: Burguesia. At that time he had left Barão Vermelho to follow a solo career, mainly because of political differences with other band members. He died in Rio de Janeiro in 1990 at the age of 32 due to AIDS related illness.First vocalist of the Brazilian rock band Barão Vermelho and highly popular as a solo artist, Cazuza left his personal mark on Brazilian music in spite of his early death, through his songs which continue to be recorded by other artists.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, Lupicínio 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. In 1980 he returned to Rio, where he worked with the theatrical group Asdrúbal Trouxe o 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 band, which would be the first of the Brazilian rock style, Cazuza gained popularity and experience, departing for his solo career in 1985.In 2004 a biopic film directed by Sandra Werneck called Cazuza - O Tempo Não Pára was released.