Chitãozinho & Xororó

By the close of 2000, marking three decades in the business, Chitãozinho e Xororó had moved thirty million copies of their thirty albums and stood as the first act to blend select strands of rural caipira tradition with urban pop, thereby unlocking the nationwide—and eventually international—phenomenon later known as sertanejo romântico. Their father, himself a vocalist and songwriter, gave the brothers their earliest musical instruction, after which they began appearing at festas juninas under the name Irmãos Lima. A 1967 slot on Sílvio Santos’ television program followed, and two years later they performed on TV Bandeirantes’ Cidade Sertaneja in São Paulo. Signing with Beverly in 1970 brought the release of their debut album, Galopeira; the next year they appeared in the motion picture No Rancho Fundo. Their first gold record arrived in 1979 with 60 Dias Apaixonado, the same year they delivered “Ninguém Quis Dormir” to a crowd of twenty thousand. Somos Apaixonados achieved one million sales in 1982, propelled by the single “Fio de Cabelo.” In 1986 the duo taped its inaugural SBT television special and joined Roberto Carlos for the duet “De Coração Pra Coração.” Their 1988 engagement at the upscale Palace showroom finally reached São Paulo’s upper-middle-class audience and opened doors for the broader sertanejo field. The following year they cut Ary Barroso’s “No Rancho Fundo,” the first of their songs to grace a telenovela soundtrack, and received the Brazil’s Revelation Duo honor while playing Las Vegas. Their initial Spanish-language album appeared in Mexico in 1991; that same year Rede Globo produced a special devoted to the pair. The Chitãozinho e Xororó Foundation, established in 1992, focused on aid for children. A 1993 concert in Miami alongside the Bee Gees coincided with Guadalupe topping Billboard’s Hot Latin Singles chart. In 1994 they recorded “Ela Não Vai Mais Chorar” and “Pura Emoção” with Billy Ray Cyrus. Joint performances with priest Marcelo drew 1,600,000 spectators in 1999, the year they also cut “Coração Vazio” with Reba McEntire.