Real name: Odair José de Araújo

Effective period / Period of releases: 1972 - 2020

Born: August/08/1948, Morrinhos, Goiás, Brazil
He is a Brazilian singer and composer of popular-romantic-tacky style.
Period activity in: 1970 - present

Odair José was one of the most successful artists in the '70s and the most successful one in the brega segment. Odair José started as a self-taught musician, learning to play the violão (acoustic guitar), the piano, and the harmonica at ten. He formed a Brazilian country duo with a friend and moved to Rio de Janeiro RJ at the age 18. There he worked at circuses and bars in working-class boroughs. Soon he was producing songs that described the sad atmosphere of the night in that environment. His first composition, "Eu Vou Tirar Você Deste Lugar" (I'll Take You Outta Here), told a story about a man in love with a prostitute. Becoming one of his hits, Odair José performed it with Caetano Veloso at the Phono 73 show, along with "Pare de Tomar a Pílula," another creation by José. In 1970 had one of his compositions recorded for the first time, "Chato e Atrevido," by vocalist Denise Barreto. It was the beginning of success, Odair José sold millions of copies of his albums, from the first one, recorded that year, through the ten others until 1994. In 1977 he wrote the rock opera "O Filho de José e Maria", coming to be labeled as the "Bob Dylan Brazilian." He was excommunicated by the Catholic Church in 1978 because of disc "O Filho de José e Maria" . About this he said: "Nothing has changed in my life"