Latin icon to celebrate 50-year career in style during lone Midwest stop
CHICAGO – Cardenas Marketing Network (CMN) and Viva Entertainment announced that Grammy Award-winning artist Roberto Carlos is set to visit the Windy City on Saturday, May 22 at 8:00 p.m. at the Rosemont Theatre. The concert – part of an international tour that kicked off last year to celebrate the half-century mark of one of Latin America’s most influential figures – will mark Carlos’ first Chicago appearance in several years.
Tickets priced at $125, $95, $75 and $65, not including applicable service charges, can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, please call 312-492-6424.
To kick off the 50-year career celebration, Carlos, known by his fans simply as “The King,” performed before 70,000 fans in his homeland at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium in July 2009.
Earlier this month, the singer/songwriter, who just turned 69, performed before sell out crowds at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and received a special recognition from Sony Music for his more than 100 million albums sold worldwide – a feat unmatched by any other Latin artist.
At a press conference to commemorate the milestone, Richard Sanders, President of Sony Music International, remarked, “Michael Jackson is the king of pop, Elvis Presley is the king of rock, and Roberto Carlos is the king of Latin music.”
The celebration was short lived, however, as on April 17 – the day of his second New York show – Carlos learned that his mother Laura Moreira Braga -- the subject behind his 1978 smash hit “Lady Laura” – had died. Carlos halted his tour in order to attend the funeral services in Brazil.
Roberto Carlos Braga was born in Cachoeiro do Itapemirim, Espirito Santo, Brazil and was influenced by Presley and the 1950s rock revolution. He rose to stardom as the main figure of the 1960s musical movement known as Jovem Guarda (Young Guard). He began to record his first albums and became very well known throughout his home country, even starring in motion pictures.
In the 1970s, he would find overwhelming success in more romantic and now classic ballads such as “Detalles,” “Que Sera De Ti,” “Propuesta,” and “Cama y Mesa.” A devout Christian, Carlos also topped the charts with the religious toned “La Montaña,” “Jesus Cristo,” and “Amigo” – the latter widely known to have been a favorite of the late Pope John Paul II during his visits to Latin America in the late ‘70s.
By the 1980s, Roberto Carlos had become a household name in Latin America. He was selling out shows regularly throughout Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and eventually the United States. This period was highlighted by a series of songs that have become fan favorites including “Desahogo”, “Concavo y Convexo” and “Si El Amor Se Va.”
In 1985, he teamed with other luminaries including Placido Domingo, Celia Cruz, Julio Iglesias, Vicente Fernandez, Jose Feliciano and Sergio Mendes to record the song “Cantare, Cantaras,” an effort that helped raise funds for underprivileged children in Latin America. He capped off a stellar decade by winning the Grammy Award in 1989 for “Best Latin Pop Album.”
In 2008, he and fellow countryman Caetano Veloso, released a live recording and tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim, one of the founding members of the bossa nova style.
