Biography
Vitor Mateus Teixeira (Teixeirinha) was born in the city of Rolante, district of Mascaradas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil on March 3, 1927. Son of Saturno Teixeira and Ledurina Mateus Teixeira, he had a brother and two sisters. At the age of seven he lost his father and at the age of nine his mother, becoming an orphan, he went to live with relatives, but they were unable to take care of him, to survive, he went around town and worked on everything, from carrying bags, sell fruit and sweets, even a newspaper delivery.
At the age of sixteen, he self-registered as a Brazilian citizen, and began to have documents. At the age of eighteen, he joined the Army, but did not get to serve and, on this occasion, he went to work at the DAER (Department of Highways), as a machine operator for six years. From there he left to pursue an artistic career singing on radio stations in cities in the interior, such as Lajeado, Estrela, Rio Pardo, Santa Cruz do Sul and, in the latter, he met his wife Zoraida Lima Teixeira, whom he married in 1957. Initially they moved to Soledade and , then moved to Passo Fundo, where they bought a “Tiro ao Alvo”, a kind of tent for drawing gifts, which was taken care of by him and his wife. At night Teixeirinha performed on the Passo Fundo Municipal Radio, singing and making his improvised verses. Vitor and Zoraida never separated and from this union were born the daughters Nancy Margareth, Gessi Elizabeth, Fátima Lisete and Márcia Bernadeth, with whom the artist shared his entire personal and artistic life.
In 1959, he was invited to São Paulo to record his first album, a 78Rpm with the songs: “Xote Soledade” and “Briga no Batizado”. According to the testimony of Dr. Biaggio Baccarin, the artistic director of the time and also a lawyer for the Chantecler Recording Company, the beginning of Teixeirinha's success is unforgettable. In the same year, Teixeirinha recorded the song "Coração de Luto", a song he tells about the death of his mother, the song was recorded at a 78Rpm, in 1960 the album of the song "Coração de Luto" sold exactly 1 million copies, an unprecedented event in the history of music, so far, no artist in the world had sold 1 million copies of a 78Rpm record, Coração de Luto was the first song in history to sell 1 million copies, the records were sold so quickly that it resembles Beatlemania, only without the tumult of screaming fans.
The song “Coração de Luto” which currently has sold more than 25 million copies, is the only one in the world, best selling, surpassing singers such as Michael Jackson, Julio Iglesias, contemporary singers of great sales of records, but not a single song, such as the case of “Coração de Luto”, which continues in the quotation of one of the most played songs. [3]
With the unexpected success, Teixeirinha returned to Passo Fundo and sold his Tiro ao Alvo stand, and moved to Porto Alegre. He was called again by Chantecler, this time to live in the capital of São Paulo and continue the dissemination of the success of “Coração de Luto”, however, he refused to live in São Paulo, returning to the capital of Rio Grande do Sul.
Teixeirinha began traveling all over Brazil and became known as the “Gaúcho Coração do Rio Grande”, but soon began to be called “O Rei do Disco”, as his first albums sold 1 million copies. In 1963, he won the “Chico Viola” trophy, awarded by TV Record of São Paulo "Astros do Disco", a gala program on Brazilian television, which aimed to reward the best of each year's album, Teixeirinha won for being the best-selling singer for two consecutive years, in 1962/1963. Internationally he won the “Elefante de Ouro” trophy with the highest record sales in Portugal.
For twenty years, he presented daily radio programs with two editions: “Teixeirinha Amanhece Cantando” (in the morning) and “Teixeirinha Comanda o Espetáculo” (at night) and, on Sunday mornings, he had the program “Teixeirinha Sings for Brazil”, with transmission from the state capital to the interior and other Brazilian states. [4]
Teixeirinha received 13 gold discs and 5 diamond discs. He was an emeritus citizen of several municipalities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, such as Passo Fundo, Santo Antônio da Patrulha, Rolante, and so on. In 1973 he played 15 shows in the United States and in 1975 he played 18 shows in Canada, in addition to several performances in shows in Portugal, France, Spain and England and performed in most countries in South America. [5]
During his twenty-two-year career, Teixeirinha was accompanied by the accordionist Mary Terezinha in concerts, on the radio and in the movies.
He recorded more than 50 unreleased albums, totaling more than 70 albums including covers, recorded exactly 758 songs of his own authorship, leaving a collection of more than 1,200 compositions, including some unpublished. [6]
In 1985 Teixeirinha discovered he had lymphoma, after a few months, he had progressed in his recovery but on December 4, 1985, during the afternoon, Teixeirinha had a heart attack at home, the children called an ambulance but when he arrived at the hospital, Teixeirinha had died. Teixeirinha was buried in the Santa Casa da Misericórdia cemetery in Porto Alegre, at his funeral, thousands of fans went to say goodbye, the police had to close streets because the number of people and huge, at his funeral, as he asked, were touched some songs to the sound of Accordion and Violão, as it was the style of music he most loved. Teixeirinha left 7 daughters, Márcia Teixeira, Nancy Teixeira, Margareth Teixeira, Beta Teixeira, Líria Teixeira, Liane Teixeira and Preta Teixeira, and left 2 children, Vitor Mateus Teixeira Filho and Alexandre Teixeira. [7]
