Wilson Miranda born 27 March 1940

Wilson Miranda (March 27, 1940 - June 20, 1986) was a Brazilian singer of samba, rock and jazz, and music producer who early on, was identified with the "jovem guarda" a teen-oriented rock'n'roll sound of the early 1960s, but later found his way into the pop mainstream. 

Miranda was born as Wilson Antonio Chaves de Miranda in Itápolis, São Paulo, Brazil. He began his career as the lead singer of a jazz ensemble. During the late fifties he signed a contract with the Chantecler label and recorded many singles from 1958 to 1965. In 1960, he managed to sign a contract with Rádio Tupi, where he started to sing his rock-ballad songs. 

He alternated the repertoire of his recordings with the inclusion of Samba-Canção and Boleros in his albums. Although it was not well received by critics, who considered the then newcomer Rock’n’roll as a kind of sub-music, he achieved commercial success with "Quando", "É Porque", "Veneno", "O Apacheand "Bata Baby" (a version of Little Richard’s  Long Tall Sally.). 

1960 was a busy year for Miranda, he participate in the film "Conceição", under the direction of actor Hélio Souto, a show of the crime, police and suspense genre and where he appeared singing the song "Bata Baby" together with the group "The Rebels". He also recorded the  LP "Samba e Rocks", containing 13 songs versions of American hits, some new ones such as "Aquele Relógio" and "Ring a Rockin'" and other re-recordings such as "Bata Baby", among others. 

                                      

More singles an albums were issued from 1961 to 1964  including the LPs. "Teu Amor é Minha Vida" an "A Outra Face de Wilson Miranda", with exclusive Bossa Nova songs, presenting a more jazzy and intimate performance recording Brazilian classics such as "Minha Namorada" by Carlos Lyra and Vinicius de Moraes an "Samba de Verão" by Marcos an Paulo Sérgio Valle. 

By 1965 Miranda was ready to shed his teenybopper roots and recorded his second album with Bossa Nova songs and other sambas, under the name of "Tempo Novo", by his new label RCA Victor, which was very well received earning him many awards, Among the 11 tracks recorded, there are the sambas "Tempo Feliz" by Baden Powell and Vinícius de Moraes, "Amanhã" by Walter Santos and Tereza Souza, and other hits, with arrangements and orchestras by Chico Moraes and Erlon Chaves. 

It was about this time that the TV show called Jovem Guarda (Young Guard), was aired in São Paulo, influenced by the Rock and Roll movements of the 50s and 60s. The program was led by Roberto Carlos, Erasmo Carlos and Wanderléa and had the participation of several young artists of the time, including Wilson Miranda who sang several of his hits during the time the program was on the air. 

In 1967 he recorded the million selling single "Estou Começando a Chorar" (I'm Starting to Cry), a composition by Roberto Carlos and one of the biggest hits of that year. Even so, in the following years he left his singing career in the background, acting as a producer on albums by Nelson Gonçalves, Bendegó, Banda de Pífanos de Caruaru, and others of more popular appeal. 

It was only in 1978 that he recorded again, this time for the Continental label, the LP entitled "Relevo", with a completely different repertoire, definitively moving away from the rocker image of the beginning of his career, more focused on Brazilian Popular Music. In 1984, he released CD single of  “Viviana, in search of love” , the theme of Lucía Méndez's soap opera aired on SBT that year. In his latter years, he lived in the Campo Belo neighborhood of São Paulo with his family, where he had a room full of gold records and awards from the Jovem Guarda period. 

Wilson Miranda died on June 20, 1986, victim of a cardiac arrest in his car while he was stopped at a traffic light in São Paulo. Several artists from the Jovem Guarda attended the funeral. He was buried in the Araçá Cemetery. 

(Edited mainly from a translated Wikipedia article)