BRAZIL (CelebrityAccess) André Midani, 86, a towering figure in Brazilian music, died of of cancer in Rio de Janiero, accordindg to published reports.
Midani was credited with six decades of musical influence in Brazil, helping to launch the careers of the likes Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Mana, Luis Miguel, and Alejandro Sanz, according to Billboard.
He was born in Syria but raised in France, becoming a record salesman for Decca in 1952. He moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1955 and launched Capitol Records in Brazil where he gave young people music that they liked but could not before hear. He launched Imperial Records in 1960, selling records door to door.
“When I met you, saw your eyes, heard the conversations, heard the songs and saw the lyrics, I felt I had to make a choice, a decision. And my decision was to design this company for you to have perhaps an easier path,” Midani said in the documentary “An Insider’s Story of Brazilian Music.”
h/t Billboard
