Before conquering Brazil with his solo career and the success of 'Milla', Netinho was already drawing crowds with Banda Beijo. Leading the group between 1988 and 1992, the singer scored hits, participated in national television programs and starred in important moments in the history of axé music, such as the trip of an electric trio to the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
Netinho's history with the band, however, began before he took over the vocals. In an account published on his official website, the artist said that he fell in love with the Salvador Carnival in 1986, when he paraded as a reveler in Bloco Beijo, led by Luiz Caldas and the Banda Acordes Verdes.
At the time, he still didn't know the party that would become a fundamental part of his life.
“It was love at first sight — or rather, at the first chord,” wrote the singer when recalling the experience.
The following year, when reading in a newspaper that the block was looking for a new singer to form its own band, Netinho decided to audition. He was approved and joined the group.
The first presentations took place in cities in the interior of Bahia, such as Barreiras, Feira de Santana and Cruz das Almas. In 1988, the big moment came: his debut on the official Salvador Carnival circuit as the lead singer of Banda Beijo.
“When the first song exploded, I knew: this was where I belonged,” he recalled.
In July 1988, at the age of 22, Netinho recorded his first album with the band, “Prove Beijo”. The album featured “Beijo na Boca”, a song sung by him that became a national hit.
The hit started playing on radio stations in different regions of the country and helped to project Banda Beijo beyond Bahia.
In 1989, the group performed on “Domingão do Faustão”, on TV Globo, in the program’s debut year. Participation increased the band's visibility and paved the way for a sequence of shows throughout the Northeast and other Brazilian regions.
At the same time, Netinho changed his look and released, with the group, the album “Sem Repression”. Songs such as “Salvador pra Você”, “Gosto de Mar” and “Vem Me Dar Um Beijo” helped to consolidate his position as a vocalist.
Banda Beijo also stood out for its more pop sound, with influences from international music, without abandoning the energy of the electric trios that moved the Bahian Carnival.
In 1990, Netinho lived one of the most unusual experiences of his career. After Carnival in Salvador, he embarked with Banda Beijo for Italy, where an electric trio was taken from Brazil to accompany Brazilian fans during the World Cup.
The presentations took place in Turin, before and after the Brazilian team's games. The initiative took one of the symbols of Bahian Carnival to the international competition environment.
After Brazil's elimination, the trio returned to the country, but Netinho remained in Italy with the band. The group performed in different Italian cities and ended their visit to the country with participation in the “Ciao Mondiale” event, related to the World Cup mascot. The attraction was broadcast to more than 100 countries, according to the report published by the singer.
Back in Salvador, Netinho and Banda Beijo released the album “Beijo”, on the BMG record label. To publicize his work, the singer created a performance at the top of Shopping Barra, inspired by the famous Beatles show on the roof of a building in London in 1969.
According to Netinho, around 40 thousand people watched the spectacle on the streets and in the shopping mall's parking lot.
The album also featured “Eu Quero Beijo”, which won a music video shown on “Fantástico”, a TV Globo program, further expanding the group’s popularity.
In 1991, through the PolyGram record label, Banda Beijo released “Badameiro”, an album directed by Netinho. The work mixed lyrics with messages about Brazil and romantic songs, one of the singer's trademarks.
The following year, “Aconteceu Axé Music” came along, at a time when micaretas, out-of-season carnivals, were gaining strength in several Brazilian cities.
Netinho said that he decided to put the term “Axé Music” in the title of the album as a response to the criticism that the musical genre received from a journalist from Salvador.
The bet paid off. The album won the first Gold Record of the singer's career, with more than 100 thousand copies sold, according to the report published by him.
The song “A Vida é Festa” was featured on the soundtrack of the soap opera “Mulheres de Areia”, on TV Globo. Other tracks, such as “Aconteceu”, “Sandra”, “Barracos”, “Estrela Primeira” and “Qualquer Estação”, were also part of the album’s repertoire.
In 1992, Netinho also took an electric trio to the Copacabana waterfront, in Rio de Janeiro. According to the artist, it was the first time that a vehicle of this type paraded through the area.
Afterwards, the show “Aconteceu” went to concert halls such as Canecão, in Rio de Janeiro, and Palace, in São Paulo, with packed performances.
The album's success marked a turning point in the singer's trajectory. After four years leading Banda Beijo, Netinho decided to pursue a solo career.
In 1993, Netinho recorded his first solo album, “Um Beijo pra Você”. The album brought hits such as “Capricho dos Deuses”, “Total” and “Menina”, which was featured on the soundtrack of the soap opera “Tropicaliente”, also on TV Globo.
The work earned the singer his first Platinum Record in Brazil, for more than 250 thousand copies sold, in addition to a Gold Record in Chile.
From then on, Netinho expanded his activities in music. In addition to singing, he began producing and directing his own shows, participating in decisions about the stage, sets, lighting and choreography.
He also teamed up with music producer Guto Graça Mello and set up Blue Estúdio in Rio de Janeiro, which hosted Brazilian and international artists.
Netinho died on Tuesday (13), aged 60, in Salvador. According to information released by the singer's publicist, he was facing complications from type B non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer that affects the lymphatic system. The condition progressed to kidney failure and multiple organ dysfunction.
The artist had been diagnosed with the disease in 2025 and announced remission after treatment. In May 2026, however, the lymphoma reappeared, and he resumed chemotherapy.
The singer's health had already required an extended career break. In 2013, he faced serious complications, including a vascular problem in his liver, underwent medical procedures and suffered strokes, according to information released at the time. The period was marked by hospitalizations and a difficult recovery, which kept him away from Carnival for four years.
Netinho returned to performing in 2017 and gradually resumed his relationship with the public and with the party that, as he himself wrote, had won his heart back in 1986.
