Singer Rick, from the duo with Renner, dies at 59 after tragic helicopter accident in SC
Comadre, pull up your chair and prepare your heart, because Brazilian music has just suffered a blow that leaves the whole country in silence and tears. Brazil says goodbye to one of the most striking, tuned and beloved voices of our sertanejo. Singer-songwriter Rick, who formed with Renner one of the most emblematic duos in our history, passed away this Tuesday (22), at the age of 59, after the confirmation of a helicopter crash in Santa Catarina.
The news that no one would like to give moved the artistic world on Tuesday (22), after the Fire Department located and confirmed the crash of the Bell 430 model aircraft in Santa Catarina territory. The helicopter had taken off on Monday afternoon (21) from Porto Belo to São Joaquim, in the Serra, facing a route punished by strong storms before disappearing from radars. On board, in addition to the singer, were businessman Bruno Avelar, a videomaker, pilot and co-pilot.
Behind the spotlights and the crowded stages of people singing "Filha", "Muleca" and "Nos Bares da Cidade", the artist baptized as Geraldo Antônio de Carvalho never lost the simplicity of his rural origins. Born in the countryside of Monte do Carmo, in Tocantins, he grew up rocked by his mother's country radio and his father's stories, taking his first steps in music alongside his sister in the friendly children's duo Sereno e Serenata. Later, based in Brasília, fate pulled its strings in 1986 when Rick called a concert hall to borrow instruments and heard Renner's voice singing on the other end of the line. The close encounter became a victorious partnership, leveraged by the sponsorship of Zezé Di Camargo and Luciano in the early 1990s and consolidating a career with tens of millions of records sold.
In addition to shining on the microphone alongside his partner — with whom he overcame turbulence, hiatuses and reconstructions always in the name of the love of music — Rick has established himself as one of the most brilliant and requested pens in popular music, signing historical hits performed by names like Chitãozinho and Xororó, Daniel and Gian and Giovani. Married for years to Geralda Carvalho and loving father of Mônica and Victor Henrique, the artist left an irreparable void in the popular songbook and in the hearts of millions of fans who grew up with his compositions as the soundtrack of life.
May the Heavenly Father comfort the family, friends on the road and the entire country nation in this moment of immense pain, right comadre? The matter is gone in such a tragic way, but Geraldo's poetry and voice are immortalized in every chord that plays on the radio in this country.
And for you, comadre, what was the unforgettable song of Rick's pen or voice that most marked your story?