Tony Bellotto

Tony Bellotto
Tony Bellotto in 2013 (Fernando Frazão/ABr)
Background information
Birth name	Antonio Carlos Liberalli Bellotto
Born	(1960-06-30) June 30, 1960
Genres	Rock
Occupations	Composer, songwriter, writer
Instruments	Guitar, acoustic guitar
Years active	1975–present
Associated acts	Trio Mamão Titãs

Antonio Carlos Liberalli Bellotto (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈtonɪ beˈlotʊ], born on June 30, 1960) is a Brazilian musician and writer, best known as the guitarist of Brazilian rock band Titãs. He has also written and released several books.

Childhood

Bellotto decided to be a rock guitarist when he was a child. After exploring Jimi Hendrix's first albums, he composed his first songs on the guitar, while he explored other notable guitarists, like Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton.

He also had a passion for books. He explored writers like Rubem Fonseca, Jorge Amado, Ernest Hemingway, Herman Melville and his famous Moby-Dick.

When he was 14 years old, he was given his first guitar. Although very interested in Jovem Guarda and Yellow Submarine from The Beatles, Bellotto only entered deeply in the rock music one year later, on a trip to the United States. When he returned to Brazil, he started living in the city of Assis, São Paulo. In his baggage, he brought albums from Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson. These influences, together with Caetano Veloso, João Gilberto and Luiz Melodia, some of his idols, contributed for his wide knowledge of music.

Career

With his guitar, he toured colleges and bars singing and playing, with his own compositions, and opening shows of well known MPB names, like Jorge Mautner. With the help of Carlos Barmack, he got to know Branco Mello and Marcelo Fromer. The three formed the group Trio Mamão. At that time, Bellotto attempted to enter an architecture course at a college in Santos, but he quit it to dedicate his life only to music and writing. In 1982, little before the first performances with Titãs do Iê-Iê, his first daughter, Nina, was born to him and his wife Ana Paula Silveira.^{[citation needed]}

And as for the books, in 1994, during one of the breaks of the band, Bellotto wrote and released for the publishing company Cia. Das Letras his book Bellini e a Esfinge (Bellini and The Sphinx), the story of a detective who lives in the suburbs of São Paulo. Two years later, Bellini reappeared in the second book, Bellini e o Demônio (Bellini and The Evil). In 2001, he released two more books: "BR 163 – Duas História na Estrada" (BR 163 – Two Stories on The Road) and "O Livro do Guitarrista" (The Book of The Guitarist), with clues, discographies and curiosities of the history of the rock. In 2002, the first adventure of Bellini was adapted for the movies, starring Fábio Assunção as the main character. On the television, he began to appear in 1999, on the TV Futura, on the program Afinando a Língua (Tuning the language), an informal electronic class of Portuguese.

On September 2011 he lost his father, one day prior to the opening of Rock in Rio 2011, in which he performed with Titãs.^[1]

Tony Bellotto keeps a column called "Cenas Urbanas" ("Urban Scenes") at Brazilian magazine Veja.^[2]

Personal life

Married since 1990 to the actress Malu Mader, Tony Bellotto had with her two more sons, João (born in 1995) and Antônio (born in 1997). All of them live in Rio de Janeiro.

In 1985, Tony and his then band mate Arnaldo Antunes were arrested for possession of heroine.^[3] Tony is now a supporter of drug liberalization.^[4] He is an atheist.^[5]

Discography

With Titãs

Guest appearances

Bibliography as a writer

• Bellini e a Esfinge (1995), Companhia das Letras
• Bellini e o Demônio (1997), Companhia das Letras
• BR 163 - Duas Histórias na Estrada (2001), Companhia das Letras
• O Livro do Guitarrista (2001), Companhia das Letras
• Bellini e os Espíritos (2005), Companhia das Letras
• Os Insones (2007), Companhia das Letras

References

• Bellotto’s page at Titãs official web site

External links

• Tony Bellotto at the Internet Movie Database