1935

Born in Paraíba (northeast), he moved to Rio de Janeiro with his family in 1951, where he met artists like composer Valdemar Henrique, Baden Powell and Luiz Eça. In college, he joined students' unions. Vandré met Carlos Lyra, who became his partner on songs like "Quem Quiser Encontrar o Amor" and "Aruanda", recorded by Lyra. His debut album, "Geraldo Vandré", came out in 1964 with songs like "Fica Mal com Deus" and "Menino das Laranjas" (with Theo de Barros). Vandré was a regular at music festivals, being placed first in one of them with the song "Porta-Estandarte" (with Fernando Lona), performed by Tuca and Airto Moreira. Then, he toured the northeast with a group that would eventually be named Quarteto Novo, and included Hermeto Pascoal, Theo de Barros, Haroldo do Monte and Airto Moreira. Vandré grew more and more famous in festivals. His songs "Disparada" was interpreted by Jair Rodrigues, and tied with Chico Buarque's "A Banda" on a competition in 1966. In 1968, the song "Caminhando (Pra Não Dizer Que Não Falei das Flores)" was placed second on a festival, in spite of being the public's favorite. As the military dictatorship grew stronger, he went on a voluntary exile, living in Chile, France, Algeria, Germany, Austria, Greece and Bulgary. Vandré was turned into a sort of "myth" concerning resistence against the dictatorship, and did not perform in Brazil for many years. He performed in Paraguay in 1982 and 1985 after more than one decade of silence. Compilations of his music were released in 1990s.