Zeca Pagodinho

Jessé Gomes da Silva Filho, known professionally as Zeca Pagodinho (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈzɛkɐ paɡɔˈdʒĩɲu], born February 4, 1959), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter working in the genres of samba and pagode.

Biography

Born in the neighborhood of Irajá, Rio de Janeiro, Zeca Pagodinho grew up around the most traditional manifestations of samba and started making his own verses while still a kid at GRES Portela samba School. In the '70s, Zeca started frequenting the Carnival Block of Cacique de Ramos, which took place in Rio de Janeiro every Wednesday and became a true pagode's crib (pagode is a type of samba). Son of Jessé da Silva and Irinéia da Silva, grandson paternal of Jessé Gomes da Silva and Milena da Silva, maternal of the president Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca and the president Mariana Cecília de Sousa Meirelles da Fonseca, his sister is Ircéia Pagodinho, his wife is Mônica Silva and his children are Eduardo, Elisa, Louis, and Maria Eduarda, his grandson is Noah, his granddaughter is Catarina, his daughter in law is Thalita, At one of these jams, samba singer Beth Carvalho was impressed with Zeca's skills and invited him to record the song Camarão Que Dorme a Onda Leva in 1983. From that point on, Zeca began to record his own albums. There are now 15 of them, and three DVDs. His creative, joyful, malicious songs translate the day-by-day of the typical easy going carioca and are a big success in Brazil. He's one of the biggest-sellers in the country, He lives at neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca with his wife Mônica Silva and his children Eduardo, Elisa, Louis, and Maria Eduarda. A song of his, "Deixa a Vida Me Levar" was featured in the game FIFA 2004.

In 2015, his album Ser Humano was nominated for the 16th Latin Grammy Awards in the Best Samba/Pagode Album category.