Michel Teló


Michel Teló ; born January 21, 1981) is a Brazilian sertanejo singer-songwriter and actor. Before his solo act, he was a lead singer in various bands, most notably Grupo Tradição. His biggest national and international hit is "Ai Se Eu Te Pego", a number one in most European countries and Latin America.
Teló's artistic career began in 1987 when, as a six-year-old, he made his first solo performance in his school choir, singing a piece by Roberto Carlos and Erasmo Carlos. At ten, his musical talent blossomed when his father gave him an accordion. At age 12, upon encouragement by neighbors, school friends and his brothers, he formed a young band for playing traditional music, which was called "Guri" and served to strengthen Teló taste in music in a professional organized manner. He was the band's lead singer and composer. Besides his love for the harmonica, Teló also took piano lessons for five years. He was also dancer and played the accordion, harmonica, and guitar.

Grupo Tradição (1997–2008)

In 1997, Teló was just 16 when he was invited to join the band Grupo Tradição, making part of the band for 11 years as lead vocals until 2008. His career as a singer took off as he sang the band's biggest hits, such as "Barquinho", "O Caldeirão", "Pra Sempre Minha Vida", "A Brasileira", and "Eu Quero Você." During such period of time, he was the band's front figure, conducting most of the interviews and promotions. According to Teló's former producer Wagner, he left without creating any enmity or hard feelings, as Teló made clear that he wanted to pursue a solo career. He was replaced by Guilherme Bertoldo, but the band had lost most of its appeal due to his departure and soon members began to quit the band, not having enough trust in the viability of the band without Teló.

Solo career (2008–present)

The album Balada Sertaneja was released in 2009 by Brazilian record label Som Livre. It was produced by Ivan Myazato and resulted in two singles: "Ei, psiu! Beijo me liga", a great commercial success, and "Amanhã sei lá". The release of the live album Michel Teló – Ao Vivo was an even bigger success and awarded Teló a gold disc. This culminated in a huge concert on September 16, 2011, attended by reportedly 50,000 people in a double ticket, which included Teló and João Bosco & Vinícius at Terraço Daslu. Throughout 2011, Teló played over 240 shows. According to Forbes magazine, Teló's Fugidinha Tour was attended by more than 17 million people and Teló has reportedly made $18 million alone in 2011. Teló has also released two DVDs, one containing songs from the 1980s and 1990s, in collaboration with Milionário & José Rico, Bruno e Marrone, and João Bosco & Vinícius, and the other, entitled Michel Na Balada, including new songs. During 2014, Michel has toured Europe stopping in Belgium, France and Germany. On Facebook, he shows his joy at being able to travel to Europe and perform his songs in Europe. Also he is the best known Brazilian artist in Europe and was asked how he felt about taking the mantle of showing Brazilian music to the world to which he said he was "thrilled" to be able to.
During early 2014, Michel Teló worked with Prince Royce to create a Portuguese version of Royce's song "Darte un Beso". The pair performed it live together for the first time at the Premios Billboard Latin Awards ceremony in late April.

International fame

Many football players have used the signature dance to "Ai Se Eu Te Pego", during goal celebrations, spreading the song's popularity. Brazilian football star Neymar appears on a video dancing to the song. In the Spanish professional league, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid danced to the song when Ronaldo scored the first goal against Málaga on October 22, 2011. Rafael Nadal has also danced to this song. On October 29, 2011, Brazilian left-back André Santos danced to this song after scoring the 2–2 equalizer in Arsenal's 5–3 victory over London rivals Chelsea. Recently, in the Superleague Greece, Simão Mate, Cleyton, Sebastián Leto and other Panathinaikos' players danced to this song when Cleyton scored the first goal against PAOK on October 30, 2011.
Polish football player Adrian Mierzejewski danced to this song when Paweł Brożek scored goal during the friendly match between Poland and Hungary on November 15, 2011. In the German Bundesliga, Marco Reus performed it with his teammates after each of his three goals for Borussia Mönchengladbach against Werder Bremen on November 19, 2011 when Gladbach outclassed Bremen, winning 5–0. Lewis Holtby celebrated his goal in Schalke 04's 4–0 win against 1. FC Nürnberg with the dance on the same day. Alexandre Pato, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Robinho of Milan were also seen dancing to this song at a training session on November 16, 2011. Lucas, Maxi Rodríguez, and Sebastián Coates of Liverpool danced to this song when Rodríguez scored the first goal against Chelsea on November 28, 2011.
On December 10, 2011, Marquinhos and Ricardo Laborde of Anorthosis danced this song after Marquinhos scored the first goal against Apollon Limassol in Anorthosis's 2–0 victory. On December 16, 2011, in a Süper Lig match between Orduspor and Galatasaray, Galatasaray players Felipe Melo and Emmanuel Eboué danced to the song. Falkirk striker Farid El Alagui also danced to this song after scoring against Queen of the South in the Scottish Premier League.
The song serves as the walk-up music for Miguel Montero of the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball when he comes up to bat. It was also used as the walk-out music for Fabrício Werdum at UFC 143 in Las Vegas.
Teló announced he was embarking on a tour in the United States to promote the song in an English version entitled "Oh, If I Catch You!".
Michel Teló is an avid supporter of Brazilian football team Grêmio, one of the best teams in southern Brazil. Teló is also a big supporter of the French Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain.

Awards and nominations

At the beginning of his solo career, he released his first album titled Balada Sertaneja which was not a big commercial success, but was still nominated in the category for "Musical Revelation of the Year".
His live album Michel Teló – Ao Vivo, however, was hugely successful and brought him nomination for a Latin Grammy "Best Sertanejo Album".
In 2011, Michel was nominated at the 2011 "Melhores do Movimento Country" for four categories: "Best Singer Solo" "Hit of the Year" for "Ai se eu te pego!", "Best CD" for album Michel Teló – Ao Vivo and "Best Show".
Michel was also nominated for four categories in Premio Multishow de Música Brasileira for "Best Singer", "Musical Revelation", "Best Sertanejo Artist" and "Best Music" for "Ai se eu te pego!".
In 2012, Telò won the award for "Best Tormentone" at the 2012 TRL Awards.
Michel Teló was nominated for seven categories on the prize "Billboard Latin Music Awards". Teló is the only Brazilian artist among the nominees at the awards for Latin music, predominantly Hispanic singers. The Brazilian competes in categories New Artist, Artist in Social Networks and Pop Artist, and "Oh if I catch you" is indicated for Song of the Year, Pop Music, Music and Digital Music Radio.
The awards will be held on April 25 in Miami. Shakira, Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias and the band Maná are other competitors. The singer Don Omar is the most suitable for this edition, with 18 mentions.
The Mexican singer Jenni Rivera, who died in the December 2012 in a plane crash, is given in 11 categories.
In April 2012, Michel Teló sang "Oh if I catch you" at the award ceremony of the "Billboard Latin Music Awards", but was not nominated for any awards.
In 2015, his compilation Bem Sertanejo was nominated for the 16th Latin Grammy Awards in the Best Sertaneja Music Album category.

Discography

Studio albums