Description:
Pabllo Vittar is a Brazilian drag queen, singer and songwriter. Vittar appeared on TV for the first time in 2014, on a Brazilian show, performing "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston. He became famous in the media in 2015 with the success of his music video "Open Bar", a Portuguese-language version of Major Lazer's song "Lean On" with original lyrics, produced by Bonde do Rolê and Omulu. In less than four months, the video reached one million views on YouTube. He also released an extended play with the same name, using pop hits' instrumentals with new arrangements and lyrics.
On January 12, 2017, h
Pabllo Vittar is a Brazilian drag queen, singer and songwriter. Vittar appeared on TV for the first time in 2014, on a Brazilian show, performing "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston. He became famous in the media in 2015 with the success of his music video "Open Bar", a Portuguese-language version of Major Lazer's song "Lean On" with original lyrics, produced by Bonde do Rolê and Omulu. In less than four months, the video reached one million views on YouTube. He also released an extended play with the same name, using pop hits' instrumentals with new arrangements and lyrics.
On January 12, 2017, his debut studio album Vai Passar Mal was released. In the same month he released "Todo Dia" as the second single off of the album, which became notorious in Brazilian Carnival due to its lyrics. The third single "KO" became an even bigger hit and brought Vittar to nationwide fame and success. As of 2019, the song has over 350 million views on YouTube. The fourth single, "Corpo Sensual", was released on September 6, 2017, to similar success resulting in over 290 million views on YouTube.
Vittar has been featured in songs by international artists like Major Lazer's "Sua Cara", with fellow Brazilian singer Anitta. The music video was released on July 30, 2017, and reached 10th place on the list of most viewed online videos in the first 24 hours, with 25 million views. The singer also appears on "I Got It", from Charli XCX's fourth mixtape Pop 2. Vittar collaborated again with XCX, on "Flash Pose", released on July 25, 2019. The single was later included on Vittar's 111 1 EP. He also got to perform "Flash Pose" at the 2019 MTV Europe Music Awards. Following the success of the 111 1 EP; Amor de Que was seen as a smash hit in the 2020 Brazilian Carnaval, althought the song reaching over 50 million views in just a month.
On August 15, 2018, Pabllo Vittar released his second studio álbum Não Para Não – including the singles "Disk Me", "Problema Seu", "Buzina" and "Seu Crime". Vittar toured in support of the album, in Brazil and internationally. An extended tour called "NPN Pride" saw Vittar performing in various pride parades throughout USA and Canada.
With the nomination of "Sua Cara" at the 19th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, Vittar became the first Grammy-nominated drag queen. He also became the first drag queen to win an EMA award in its 25-year run for Best Brazilian Act.
Born in São Luís, Phabullo is a dizygotic twin and has an older sister. Phabullo spent part of his childhood and adolescence living in the cities of Santa Ines and Caxias, both in the interior of Maranhão, due to financial difficulties. He never knew his father, who abandoned his mother, a nurse, when she was pregnant with him.
During his childhood, Phabullo experienced bullying because of his delicate gestures and feminine voice. He was physically assaulted with a plate of hot soup thrown over his face. He attended ballet classes during this period.
At the age of 13, Phabullo began doing covers at family parties and school performances and joined a choir at a Catholic church. Soon after, he began songwriting. Later, he decided to become a professional, moving to São Paulo with his sister, where he worked in several places, such as snack bars and beauty salons. Soon after, he moved to Uberlândia with his mother, who had recently married. At the age of 15, he came out to his mother, who had suspected that he was gay; his sister already knew about his sexual orientation. His mother, whom he talks to daily, is supportive of his sexual orientation.
He then began to go out for the night in Maranhão, to make friends, and to participate as one of a selection of singers in a house of shows. He started performing his own songs and impersonating celebrities for a small fee, but it was not a professional job. He was now dressing feminine, but did not identify himself as a drag queen; the first time that he did drag was at age 17 in Uberlândia, to publicize a party of his friend by delivering pamphlets at the door of a nightclub. With time, he started performing in LGBT parades in diverse cities of Maranhão and became known by the state's LGBT community. At age 18, in Minas Gerais, Phabullo started participating in and winning some beauty contests in full drag, before beginning his professional career as a singer while adopting the stage name of "Pabllo Knowles", an homage to singer Beyoncé. His first performance as a drag queen occurred at the Belgrano nightclub, of producers Ian Hayashi and Leocádio Rezende (whom Phabullo would later call his "parents").
Still in Minas Gerais, Phabullo took a university entrance exam by the Federal University of Uberlândia, where he was admitted to the full design course in 2013, but after some periods he dropped out of college due to his schedule of shows, which increased greatly due to the success of his music videos on the internet and his participation in the band of primetime television program Amor & Sexo.
When he attracted attention from entrepreneurs in the entertainment field, Phabullo began his musical career professionally, performing in bars and concert halls in Uberlândia and cities of the region. In this period, Phabullo adopted the stage name of Pabllo Vittar.
Pabllo Vittar is widely considered a voice for Brazil's LGBT+ community. Because dangers to LGBT+ people have grown in Brazil, Vittar's openness about being gay has made him an icon to those living in a prejudiced environment. As an openly gay, Brazilian drag queen, Vittar has served as a positive representation of homosexuality and gender fluidity. He has worked with Brazilian singer Anitta and United States artists Fergie and Major Lazer, gaining support for the visibility of LGBT+ individuals in Brazil and other countries in South America. Vittar also appeared on "Edge of Desire" a popular soap-opera about a transgender man. After seeing Vittar perform at the Rock in Rio festival, actor Fabio Assunção wrote in a Facebook post: “You represent the possibility of truth in a sea of hypocrisy. Your public figure is the voice of many suffocated people.” Since her debut, Vittar became the most followed and most streamed drag queen in the world, surpassing RuPaul.
Phabullo is a countertenor with 2.3 octaves of vocal extension already exhibited, spanning from flat E in the third octave (E♭3) to G# in the fifth octave (G♯5). His music is seen as "unofficial anthems for Brazil's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community."
"I think gender doesn't matter to me. If you write 'him,' I'll find it incredible, if you write 'her,' too. But when I get in drag... I won't stand in front of the mirror two hours putting on makeup for someone to call me 'he,' right? Call me 'she'! SHE is beautiful, SHE is a singer, SHE is a drag queen! I like to be called in the feminine."
In an interview for Veja magazine, Phabullo revealed that he chose a masculine stage name because he wanted to be truthful to the public, since he is not transgender. He only acts as a woman when he's on the stage as Pabllo Vittar, after that, he has a more typical masculine gender expression. During the same interview, Phabullo said he is "making music for humans."
"They tell me a lot about their daily struggle to go out on the street being gay, being drag. I want to give them strength so they can continue being who they are."
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