Belo

Having fronted the Brazilian supergroup Soweto for eight years, vocalist Belo launched a solo career to make his own mark in the recording industry. Already viewed as the samba voice of his generation after selling more than three million units with the group, Belo carried that hard-earned standing into his independent work, where it continued to strengthen. His first solo effort, Desafio (EMI), proved an immediate hit by reaching double platinum within a year. The live album Belo ao Vivo, issued in October 2001, followed with comparable impact, moving over 270,000 copies. Belo repeatedly called on the same musicians who had shaped Soweto’s sound, among them producer Prateado and arrangers and instrumentalists Jota Moraes, Paulinho Calazans, and Carlinhos Gonzalez, all of whom remained central from his earliest solo projects through the third and fourth studio releases Valeu Esperar and Romance Rosa. In 2006 he issued Procura -- Se Um Amor, gathering highlights from his solo catalog.