Singer has not become an LGBT icon, but his role was important to raise awareness of AIDS in Brazil, the experts underline. In Rio, the exhibition celebrates its legacy. “Brazil, show your face” listen to the spectators of the soap work Vale Tudo daily, a remake currently shown by Rede Globo. The song was composed of the Brazilian rocky poet, Cazuza, as Agenor De Miranda Araújo Neto (1958-1990), a famous 35-year-old artist, following the AIDS.
Why does your work become alive so long later? For experts, the explanation is both in the quality of his work and in the power of the rebellious character that he himself was as well as in the effort of memory: that is, in initiatives that contribute to the perpetuation of his inheritance, both as rewrites constant of his compositions or specific actions.
According to the central collection and distribution office (Ecad), Cazuza left 253 own works and 332 recordings. In a shopping center in Rio de Janeiro, the exaggerated exhibition of Cazuza is the largest ever dedicated to the singer – in the first two weeks, he received an audience of 17,000 people.
“Cazuza has not lost the artistic and musical relevance is still remembered through films, books and taxes”, comments the public relations Horácio Brandão, one of the creators of the show. “The artists of different generations of MPB, Pop, Seranejo and Rock, among other styles, continue to record the honors.”
In streaming, he is an artist in evidence. On the Spotify platform, for example, there are 3.8 million monthly auditions, which leave him equivalent to Marisa Monte at the level, for example a singer who continues to produce.
Voice of the “Lost Generation”
Born in 1958 in Rio, Cazuza initially became known as the main singer and the main lyricist of the band Barão Vermelho, in which current from 1981 to 1985. Then he embarked on his solo career.
Professor of literature at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Ufrj) and author of Biography Cazuza: Blender Secrets, the researcher Rafael Julião believes that the relevance of the artist is that of having been able to “make the news” of a historical time marked by counterculture, by the dream of youth and the agent to transform the world. “He marked the desire for a generation in front of the frustrated dream. This message retains a power.”
The longevity of his fame is in the way in which he “embodied the spirit of an era” at the same time “in which he faced deeply human and timeless issues”, says the expert of cultural projects Gisele Jordão, coordinator of the film and the audiovisual course at the Higher School of Advertising and Marketing (ESPM).
“It was a multifaceted figure: poet, rocker, rebellious and, paradoxically, extremely vulnerable. This unique combination allowed him to talk about freedom, affections, contradictions and fight against hypocrisy in a way that is still concentrated and resonates with people,” he says.
Bisexual, he had a short but intense troubled relationship by the musician Ney Matogrosso – and this moment is played in the film in the city with H, Matogross Ticoposso published this year.
“I was completely in love, but it was difficult to live with the two cazuza who was in it,” said Ney Matogrosso in an interview of 2024. “From a public point of view, he was aggressive, crazy, drunk and sniffed a lot of dust. In intimacy, it was the opposite. He was one of the most fascinating people I met.” The appointments lasted three months.
Causes and flags
For LGBT activists, however, Cazuza is not seen as an icon because he has never raised the flag of the cause. “I like Cazuza as a composer and singer, but I disagree with him for his mutism and for not having said anything explicit on homosexuality and gay movement”, says the anthropologist Luiz Mott, founder of the gay group of Bahia (GGB) and retired professor at the Federal University of Bahia (Ufba).
Mott states that the artist “deeply was a gay and selfish gay” and, like others, did not realize “the crucial role of support for militancy” of the cause.
Jordan, in turn, believes that even if he has not used any term to refer to the LGBT scenario, “the impact of his public position is undeniable” on the segment. At the moment it attributes this positioning ambiguity. “Cazuza lived his bisexuality in a natural way and without hiding in a period of enormous prejudice.”
What seems the consent, however, is the importance of Cazuza for the awareness of the existence of the AIDS virus and the importance of treatments to prevent diseases. “Not only did he talk about his condition, but used his vast visibility to break the silence around the disease.”
In 1989, it was the cover of the Veja magazine, facing the fact that it was positive for HIV. For Jordão, this had a “huge impact”. “In that context, the simple existence of someone like him, young, famous, talented, who lived with HIV and without shame of who he was, was already a powerful political act,” says Jordan.
For the philosopher Beto de Jesus, one of the pioneers of LGBT activism in Brazil and director for Brazil at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the interview published by the Weekly magazine was “overwhelming”. “He brought the reality that AIDS was reaching all people. He had the courage to reveal it, talk about the difficulties and stigma of discrimination,” he comments.
From 1990 to 2020, the parents of Cazuza, the philanthropist Luciana Araújo and the businessman and music manufacturer João Araújo, have maintained the NGO Sociedade Viva Cazuza, maintained with the copyright of the artist’s work. The main objective of the entity was assistance to children and young people.
Source: Terra
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
