Nelson Sargento

Nelson Sargento (born Nelson Mattos) OMC (25 July 1924 – 27 May 2021) was a Brazilian composer, singer, Brazilian popular music researcher, visual artist, actor, and writer.

Having lived in Mangueira since the age of 12, Nelson became known as one of the most important samba musicians of Estação Primeira de Mangueira, of which he was a member and president of the school's composers' wing, as well as its honorary president.

His artistic nickname "Sargento" alluded to the rank he attained for having served in the Brazilian Army in the second half of the 1940s. He gained notability as a singer at the famed Zicartola lounge and, shortly thereafter, as a member of the ensembles A Voz do Morro and Os Cinco Crioulos in the 1960s.

He was awarded the Ordem do Mérito Cultural in 2016.

In May 2021, the sambista was admitted to the National Cancer Institute - a facility he had attended since 2005 when he received treatment for prostate cancer - with dehydration and rapid weight loss, in addition to testing positive for COVID-19, despite Nelson having taken both doses of the CoronaVac vaccine between January and February of the same year. The composer's medical condition worsened until he died on 27 May 2021, at the age of 96.

Works Discography

Solo career

1979 – Sonho de um sambista 1986 – Encanto da paisagem 1990 – Ineditas de Nelson Sargento 2001 – Flores em vida 2008 – Versatil

As a member of Conjunto Rosa de Ouro

1965 – Rosa de ouro 1966 – Os sambistas

As a member of Conjunto Os Cinco Crioulos

1967 – Samba...no duro 1968 – Samba...no duro 2 1969 – Os Cinco Crioulos