Biography
Paula Toller earned recognition chiefly through her position as lead vocalist and co-songwriter within Kid Abelha, a Brazilian pop/rock group noted for its sustained output and broad appeal, though she periodically pursued independent recordings apart from her colleagues. Her well-regarded self-titled first album appeared in 1998, while mainstream breakthrough arrived in 2007 through the number-one Só Nós. She sustained her creative and stage work throughout the following decade by delivering Nosso (2014) and Transbordada (2014) plus upbeat non-album singles such as 2018’s “Céu Azul” and 2020’s “Eu Amor Brilhar.”
Born Paula Toller Amora on August 23, 1962, in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, she grew up under the care of her paternal grandparents, Paulo and Renée, beginning at age eight. The couple held established standing—her grandfather, for example, had retired from surgery while also working as a historian and writer—and resided in Tijuca, a densely populated northern Rio district of roughly 150,000 predominantly middle-class residents that had already produced noted Brazilian musicians including Antonio Carlos Jobim, Milton Nascimento, Jorge Ben, and Gabriel o Pensador.
Toller applied herself diligently to her studies, supplementing regular schooling with ballet and English lessons. At seventeen she enrolled at PUC-Rio (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro) intending to pursue industrial design and visual communication; she simultaneously took French courses and performed translation and editing tasks to supplement her modest stipend. During her time at the university she became a member of Kid Abelha & os Abóboras Selvagens, whose rapid rise in popularity prompted her to withdraw from classes in 1984 before finishing her degree. The band’s debut long-player, Seu Espião (1984), achieved strong commercial results and earned the group an invitation to appear at the internationally acclaimed Rock in Rio festival the next year. Kid Abelha maintained uninterrupted commercial momentum thereafter, issuing a lengthy catalog of successful recordings—13 studio LPs and 3 concert LPs—well into the new millennium.
After entering a recording agreement with Warner Music Brasil, Toller issued her first solo effort, Paula Toller (1998), an album received favorably for its emphasis on cover material, among them a notably English-language rendition of “Patience” by Guns N’ Roses, together with two original compositions (“Derretendo Satélites,” “Oito Anos”). Ten years afterward Warner brought out her second solo album, Só Nós (2007), which ascended to the summit of the Brazilian charts propelled by the hit single “Meu Amor Se Mudou Pra Lua.” The concert recording Nosso followed the subsequent year, and the studio album Transbordada surfaced in 2014. Toller stayed active into the next decade with further single releases that encompassed 2018’s “Céu Azul” and 2020’s “Eu Amor Brilhar.”
Born Paula Toller Amora on August 23, 1962, in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, she grew up under the care of her paternal grandparents, Paulo and Renée, beginning at age eight. The couple held established standing—her grandfather, for example, had retired from surgery while also working as a historian and writer—and resided in Tijuca, a densely populated northern Rio district of roughly 150,000 predominantly middle-class residents that had already produced noted Brazilian musicians including Antonio Carlos Jobim, Milton Nascimento, Jorge Ben, and Gabriel o Pensador.
Toller applied herself diligently to her studies, supplementing regular schooling with ballet and English lessons. At seventeen she enrolled at PUC-Rio (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro) intending to pursue industrial design and visual communication; she simultaneously took French courses and performed translation and editing tasks to supplement her modest stipend. During her time at the university she became a member of Kid Abelha & os Abóboras Selvagens, whose rapid rise in popularity prompted her to withdraw from classes in 1984 before finishing her degree. The band’s debut long-player, Seu Espião (1984), achieved strong commercial results and earned the group an invitation to appear at the internationally acclaimed Rock in Rio festival the next year. Kid Abelha maintained uninterrupted commercial momentum thereafter, issuing a lengthy catalog of successful recordings—13 studio LPs and 3 concert LPs—well into the new millennium.
After entering a recording agreement with Warner Music Brasil, Toller issued her first solo effort, Paula Toller (1998), an album received favorably for its emphasis on cover material, among them a notably English-language rendition of “Patience” by Guns N’ Roses, together with two original compositions (“Derretendo Satélites,” “Oito Anos”). Ten years afterward Warner brought out her second solo album, Só Nós (2007), which ascended to the summit of the Brazilian charts propelled by the hit single “Meu Amor Se Mudou Pra Lua.” The concert recording Nosso followed the subsequent year, and the studio album Transbordada surfaced in 2014. Toller stayed active into the next decade with further single releases that encompassed 2018’s “Céu Azul” and 2020’s “Eu Amor Brilhar.”
Albums
Singles
