Max Lopes dies in Rio de Janeiro
The carnival employee died this Sunday (24) Max Lopesthe first Sambadrome champion and “Magician of Colors”, as it was called. His historical parades “Liberdade, Liberdade” and “Nação do Nordeste” are his. The news was confirmed to TV Globo by the family. He had 74 years.
“Max Lopes was admitted to the Conde Modesto Leal Municipal Hospital on Saturday (23) with multiorgan failure as a result of advanced prostate cancer,” the Maricá Health Department said.
That Sunday morning, Max suffered a cardiac arrest.
1 of 2 Max Lopes and Erika Januza Photo: Reproduction Max Lopes and Erika Januza Photo: Reproduction
Max Lopes was the author of great carnivals and conquered among the samba elite 3 championships:
- “Yes, we have Braguinha”: Estação Primeira de Mangueira, 1984, at the opening of the Sambadrome;
- “Freedom! Freedom! Spread your wings over us”: Imperatriz Leopoldinense, 1989;
- “Brazil with a ‘Z’ stands for plague goat, Brazil with an ‘S’ is a nation in the northeast”: Hose, 2002.
In the Access divisions he became champion at Unidos do Viradouro in 1990 “Only what is written is worth it”.
2 of 2 Empress Parade, 1989 Photo: Reproduction TV Empress Parade, 1989 Photo: Reproduction TV
Max Lopes was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1949 and started working at the carnival as an assistant Fernando Pamplona. He signed his first parade in 1976 with Unidos de Lucas with “Mar Bahiano em noite de gala”.
The following year he did “Fantastic trip to the lands of Ibirapitanga” at Imperatriz, making his debut in the Special Group.
The first prominent parade took place in 1982 “Is today!”in União da Ilha do Governador, with a historical samba over a book by Haroldo Costa with illustrations by Lan.
In 1984 it was named after the singer and composer João de Barro “Yes! We have Braguinha”, won the first Sambadrome championship for Verde and Rosa. This year there was a champion every day Portela also won and an unprecedented super championship, a showdown with the best of both evenings. Gave Mangueira.
For the 1989 carnival, the Imperatriz changed its entire staff after coming last in 1988. Max Lopes, at the invitation of President Luizinho Drummond, designed a parade to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Brazil.
The title of the plot borrowed a verse from the anthem of the Republic: “Freedom! Freedom! Spread your wings over us!” The parade depicted the end of the Brazilian monarchy, the Paraguayan War, the arrival of immigrants in the country, the signing of the Lei Áurea and the founding of the Republic.
It was a thrill that came over Joãosinho Trinta’s equally iconic Rats and Vultures at the Beija Flor in Nilópolis.
In 1991, Dercy Gonçalves was launched when she climbed onto a car with her breasts exposed.
Years later, in 2002, Max returned to Mangueira and created an entertaining story about the Northeast, combining Lampião, Gonzagão, festivals, traditions and cuisine.