PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Leandro e Leonardo
Leandro e Leonardo
Birth name	Luiz José da Costa (Leandro); Emival Eterno da Costa (Leonardo);
Born	August 15, 1961 (Leandro); July 25, 1963 (age 61) (Leonardo); Goianápolis, Goiás, Brazil;
Origin	Goiás
Died	June 23, 1998 (aged 36) São Paulo, Brazil (Leandro);
Genres	Sertanejo
Years active	1983–1998
Labels	3M Brasil; GEL Chantecler/Warner Music Brasil; BMG Brasil; Som Livre; Farol Musica;

Leandro e Leonardo were a Brazilian sertanejo duo. The two brothers (third and fourth of eight siblings), Leandro (born Luiz José da Costa, August 15, 1961–June 23, 1998) and Leonardo (born Emival Eterno da Costa, born July 25, 1963), were from Goianápolis.

History

The brothers were raised in a poor family in Brazil, and from a young age worked with their parents on tomato farms and did odd jobs such as shining shoes. Emival convinced his brother to move to the city, and the two practiced performing songs by Chitãozinho & Xororó, Roberto Carlos and The Beatles with Emival typically singing lead as Luiz sang harmonies and accompanied them on the guitar, then began playing locally in a group called Os Dominantes. After moving to Brasília, where they lived with their uncle Zé, who arranged work for Luiz as a salesman at a clothing store and for Emival at a pharmacy, while also booking gigs for them. When they began performing regularly as a duo it was as Leandro & Leonardo, the stage names being those also given to the twin boys recently born to the pharmacist Emival was working for.^[1]

After a few years of local and regional performances, they were offered spots on local television stations, and their first album came out in 1983. However, it wasn't until 1989 that they began to hit big on the Brazilian charts, with their Vol. 3 release. The group became superstars in the early 1990s, selling several million copies of their albums and obtaining a weekly show on Brazilian television. Music by Leandro and Leonardo sold 17 million records.^[2] The album Leandro & Leonardo Vol. 4 sold 3.3 million records and is the best-selling Brazilian country music album of all time.

Death of Leandro

After originally seeking treatment for back pain, Leandro was diagnosed with an Askin's tumor, a locally aggressive cancer occurring mostly in adolescents, on April 19, 1998 that had formed on the right side of his chest wall and already grown to the size of an orange.^[1] He died 65 days later of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome while undergoing chemotherapy at the Hospital São Luiz in São Paulo on June 23, following two unsuccessful surgeries to resect the tumor and restrict blood flow to it.^[3] At the time of his death the cancer was reported to be congenital,^[4] but ongoing research instead points to a carcinogenic pesticide he was exposed to while working at a tomato farm in his youth, later aggravated by heavy tobacco smoking, as the most likely cause.^[5] Leonardo continues to record as a solo artist.

Personal lives

Luiz was married twice, the first ending in divorce and the second (to former model Andréa Motta, mother to the youngest two of his three children) in separation shortly before his cancer was discovered. Leonardo's son is a well-known sertanejo universitário singer under the name Zé Felipe.

Discography

Albums

1983: Leandro & Leonardo
1986: Explosão de Desejos
1987: Leandro & Leonardo Vol. 2
1989: Leandro & Leonardo Vol. 3
1990: Leandro & Leonardo Vol. 4
1991: Leandro & Leonardo Vol. 5
1992: Leandro & Leonardo Vol. 6
1993: Leandro & Leonardo Vol. 7
1994: Leandro & Leonardo Vol. 8
1995: Leandro & Leonardo Vol. 9
1995: Temporal de Amor
1996: Leandro & Leonardo Vol. 10
1997: Leandro & Leonardo Vol. 11
1998: Um Sonhador

Special projects

1995: Amigos - Som Livre
1995: Leandro y Leonardo en Español
1996: Amigos - Som Livre
1996: Leandro y Leonardo en Español Vol.2
1997: Amigos - Som Livre
1997: Leandro y Leonardo Los Grandes Éxitos
1998: Leandro & Leonardo Só Para Crianças

References

^ ^a ^b "Hard Goodbye". Brazzil Magazine (published July 1, 2002). July 8, 1998. Archived from the original on January 29, 1999. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
^ "Música: Leandro & Leonardo muda para a BMG". UOL. 21 April 1998. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
^ "Cantor Leandro, falecido em 1998, faria 60 anos neste domingo" [Singer Leandro, who died in 1998, would be 60 this Sunday]. Gazeta do Sul (in Brazilian Portuguese). Santa Cruz do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil: Gazeta Grupo de Comunicações. August 15, 2021. Archived from the original on August 15, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
^ "Aumento do tumor foi superior a 100% apenas na última semana, diz médico" [Tumor enlargement was over 100% in the last week alone, says doctor]. Folha de São Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). June 24, 1998. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
^ Correia, Flavia (June 24, 2021). "Tumor de Askin: Câncer raro na região torácica matou Leandro, irmão do cantor Leonardo, há 23 anos" [Askin's tumor: Rare thoracic cancer killed Leandro, brother of singer Leonardo, 23 years ago]. Olhar Digital (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on June 2, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.