Raimundo Fagner Cândido Lopes is a Brazilian singer, composer, musician, actor and music producer. He is commonly known by the stage name of Fagner.
Biography
The youngest of the five children of José Fares, a Lebanese immigrant from Ain Ebel and Dona Francisca, Fagner was born in Fortaleza, the capital of the state of Ceará, although his birth was recorded in Orós. At the age of five, he won a youth competition at a local radio station. As a teen, he formed vocal and instrumental groups and began to compose his own music. In 1968, he won the Festival de Música Popular do Ceará with his song "Nada Sou".
Career
In 1971 he recorded his first single compact in partnership with another musician from Ceará, Wilson Cirino. GER was released by the label, but was not a huge success. The goal was to beat the record success of singers like Antonio Carlos and Jocafi. Also in 1971 itself, he went to Rio de Janeiro, where Elis Regina recorded "Mucuripe" which became Fagner's first success as a songwriter and singer. At the same time, he also recorded the same song on a compact disc, with Caetano Veloso singing "the Return of the White Wing." Caetano, being an intellectual type, always distanced himself from what is considered pop music and Fagner already represented a Brazilian music rooted much more pop. Other works, like their fourth album, Oros, 1977, an album that had arrangements and musical direction by Hermeto Pascoal, show a more unconventional approach, one less concerned with commercial success. Closing the 1970s, he released two more albums: I Canto with another poem by Cecília Meireles - "Reason", music by Fagner and no claims of the poet, and Beauty. Fagner was considered by the readers of Playboy magazine to be the best singer in the year 1979, while Roberto Carlos was in second place. In the 1980s, Fagner kept to the northeastern side, and was divided at the same time with romanticism. His first LP of the 1980s was Eternal Waves. In this same disc, Fagner made a version with the help of Frederick Mendes, of the classic John Lennon and Yoko Ono "Oh My Love" from the album Imagine 1971. Taking advantage of the height of his career, Fagner in the Continental label released the album Together - Fagner and Melchior, a compilation containing tracks from the album Hail Night, the single Fagner released by Continental. Polydor, in turn, replaced the disc for sale with Manera Fru Fru Manera. In 1981, he recorded the album Fagner Translate which is a major milestone in his career, which included the track to translate Ferreira Gullar poem, the poet considered Brazilian and South America's most recognized of late. The disc was released throughout Europe and Latin America, sold over 250,000 copies in a short time, and was certified platinum. In 1971 he moved to the capital Brasília, taking first place in the Festival de Música Popular do Centro de Estudos Universitários de Brasília with his piece "Mucuripe", which was later recorded by artist Elis Regina, and became Fagner's first notable success as a composer. He won prizes in other categories with additional pieces, as well. He has had a distinguished career as a performer, singer, songwriter and composer for over three decades, and is also known for his collaborations with other MPB artists such as Caetano Veloso, Roberta Miranda, Chico Buarque, and others. In 2003 Fagner was sued for alleged plagiarism: his song As Penas do Tiê appeared to have the same melody and lyrics as a song of one of earlier Brazilian composer Hekel Tavares. In recent times, he has been considered one of the greatest composers of the Spanish language, through his affiliations with non-Latin musicians such as Argentina's Mercedes Sosa. In November 2014, Fagner released a collaborative live album with singer and acoustic guitarist Zé Ramalho, entitled Fagner & Zé Ramalho ao Vivo.
