Entertainment · Music · 2 hrs ago
Brazilian music producer Solano Ribeiro dies at 87
Solano Ribeiro, a leading Brazilian music producer, has died at 87.
He died early Saturday, and his wake is scheduled for that afternoon in Vargem Grande Paulista, near São Paulo.
Ribeiro helped bring Brazilian popular music festivals to television, including the first festival of its kind on TV Excelsior in 1965.
He also helped produce Record’s 1967 festival, which featured songs by Edu Lobo, Gilberto Gil and Chico Buarque.
The festivals gave politically meaningful songs a powerful public platform during a period of political repression, Ribeiro said in a 2016 interview.
He later produced music programs, worked independently and wrote about the history of Brazilian popular music.
He continued promoting new Brazilian artists and preserving the music’s history, including through a TV Cultura festival he created in 2005 and a radio program that won two critics’ awards.
Brazilian music producer Solano Ribeiro died at 87, according to reports published on October 31, 2026.
Ribeiro helped create major Brazilian popular music festivals on television in the 1960s.
He conceived the first Brazilian Popular Music Festival, broadcast by TV Excelsior in 1965.
He was also behind the 1967 Record festival, which featured songs by Edu Lobo, Gilberto Gil and Chico Buarque.
Ribeiro later produced music programs and worked as an independent producer, critic and advocate for preserving MPB’s history.
- Who
- Solano Ribeiro, a Brazilian music producer and critic.
- What
- He died at 87.
- When
- The reports were published on October 31, 2026; Estadão says he died early that Saturday.
- Where
- Not stated.
- Why
- Not stated.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Ribeiro conceived the first Brazilian Popular Music Festival, broadcast by TV Excelsior.
Ribeiro was behind the Record festival, which featured songs including Ponteio, Domingo no Parque and Roda Viva.
Ribeiro published his book Prepare Seu Coração.
He created and directed the Festival Cultura – A Nova Música do Brasil on TV Cultura.
Estadão reported that Ribeiro had died early that Saturday, aged 87.
- Age
- 87
- First festival
- Brazilian Popular Music Festival, broadcast by TV Excelsior in 1965
- 1967 festival
- Record festival
- Book
- Prepare Seu Coração, published in 2003 and expanded in 2018
- Memorial service
- October 31, 3–5 p.m., Bosque da Paz Cemetery in Vargem Grande Paulista
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What people are saying
O Brasil perde hoje um dos nomes mais importantes da história da MPB
As músicas com uma mensagem política tinham uma receptividade muito grande. Isso transformou a música popular daquele momento numa válvula de escape para a repressão que acontecia na política, acho que isso deu muita força para o impacto dos festivais
Tudo o que escrevi foi o que vi