Luiz Caldas

Caldas was born in the city of Feira de Santana and moved to Vitória da Conquista during his childhood.^[7] He is the son of a federal highway patrolman and a housewife.^[7] As a teenager, he joined several bands that performed in the interior of Bahia, and learned to play various instruments.^[1]

Upon gaining some recognition, he was invited to play in Orlando Campos' Trio Elétrico Tapajós, with whom he recorded the song “Oxumalá,” released in 1979 on Tapajós' album Ave Caetano.^[8] After recording the album, he became a freelance studio musician in Salvador, capital of Bahia.^[7]

In 1985, he recorded the album Magia, which included the track Fricote.^[9][10] It gained widespread attention, spreading from Salvador to major music consumption centers such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, diverging from the typical dissemination patterns of the time.^[7]

Active in Salvador's carnival, he achieved national recognition in the 1980s and was a regular guest on the main television programs of the 1980s, such as the hit show Cassino do Chacrinha, hosted by José Abelardo Barbosa, which at the time was a showcase for artists.^{[11][12][13][14]} With his success, he became the cover of Veja magazine, the country's leading magazine.^[15] In addition to Fricote, he achieved success with songs such as Tieta, which was the theme song for the soap opera Tieta by Aguinaldo Silva, inspired by the book of the same name of Jorge Amado.^[16][17] In 2023, his song Haja Amor gained renewed popularity on the social network TikTok, nearly forty years after its release.^[18][19]

In the 2010s, he began a new phase in his career. He started independently releasing his albums on his official website and expanded his musical repertoire to include styles such as heavy metal, forró, and arrocha.^[20][21][22] More than twenty-five albums have already been released in this independent and free download format.^[21][23][24]

In 2021, he was nominated for a Latin Grammy in the category of Latin Grammy Award for Best Portuguese Language Roots Album for the album Sambadeiras.^[25] In 2022, he received another nomination in the same category for his forró album Remelexo Bom.^[26]

Caldas has been married to Sandra Nascimento since 1978.^[17] The couple has three children: André, Aiac, and Akauan. André is the father of Luiz's two grandchildren, Maria Alice and Luiz Vicente.^[27][28]

The family lives in Salvador, Bahia, where Caldas maintains a professional studio at home for composing and recording.^[29][30]

Caldas has followed a vegetarian diet for over 20 years and practices yoga and Pilates. He avoids alcohol and smoking.^[13][31] He has struggled with alcoholism but has managed to remain sober.^[7][32]