* En anglais uniquement
Brazilian drag queen
Pabllo Vittar combines electronic dance-pop with elements of Brazilian music and has swiftly become an icon for her country's LGBTQ community, as well as an international star.
Pabllo Vittar is the on-stage alter ego of Phabullo Rodrigues da Silva. Born in 1994 and brought up in the island city of São Luís, capital of the northern state of Maranhão, she was bullied as a child for her voice and looks, later coming out as gay. Inspired to become a singer by divas such as
Aretha Franklin,
Donna Summer, and
Whitney Houston, and Brazilian legends
Gilberto Gil and
Caetano Veloso, she began performing and songwriting in her teens. Developing an interest in drag after seeing RuPaul's Drag Race on TV, she borrowed her sister's makeup and started dressing up. She did her first performances in city bars, initially under the name Pabllo Knowles in homage to
Beyoncé, but later changed it for fear of getting sued. In 2014 she appeared on local TV with a note-perfect rendition of
Houston's difficult "I Have Nothing," which launched her on the path to fame.
Pabllo Vittar began recording her own material, becoming a well-known personality on video streaming networks and social media, with her hit "Open Bar" surpassing one million views. She signed with Sony and in 2017 released her debut album, Vai Passar Mal ("You Are Going to Be Sick"), which combined electronic dance-pop with a multitude of niche Brazilian genres such as forró, funk carioca, tecnobrega, and axé. Her second album,
Não para Não ("No, Don't Stop"), released the following year, saw her tour internationally and become even better known. With its lively character and self-affirming, sexually frank lyrics, her music became a rallying point for Brazil's increasingly marginalized LGBTQ community.
Vittar's third album, 111, issued in 2020, featured spots from
Ivete Sangalo,
Thalía, and
Charli XCX; she also collaborated with other high-profile artists such as
Anitta,
Major Lazer, and
Diplo. ~ John D. Buchanan