Rodrigo Amarante is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger whose career spans continents and genres. Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1976, he first rose to prominence as a member of Los Hermanos, one of Brazil's most celebrated rock bands, writing and singing much of their material across four acclaimed albums.
Also a founding member of Orquestra Imperial, the Rio-based samba big band that revived the gafieira samba tradition and became a hugely influential force in the city's music scene in the early 2000s, credited with sparking a renewed passion for dancehall samba among a new generation of Cariocas. Other notable members of the band were Seu Jorge and Moreno Veloso.
Then, upon coming to the US to record with Devendra Banhart, he came to form the band Little Joy, with The Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti and Binki Shapiro. He has recorded, arranged, and written music alongside icons such as Gilberto Gil, Norah Jones, Gal Costa, Tom Zé, Joao Donato, and Natalie Lafourcade, and was named one of the 100 best musicians in Brazilian history by Rolling Stone Magazine.
In 2013, he launched a solo career with his debut album Cavalo, released in Brazil that year and worldwide in 2014. He's perhaps best known internationally for writing and performing "Tuyo," the haunting theme song for Netflix's Narcos and Narcos: Mexico — which earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music. He also composed the score for the 2018 film Entebbe, and, most recently, wrote the original film score for His Three Daughters (2024).
His second solo album, Drama (2021), was met with critical acclaim, especially across the UK music press — Uncut named it their Album of the Month, while Mojo went further still, naming Drama its World Music Album of the Year for 2021.
Now based in Los Angeles, Amarante is writing a new album to be released in 2027.
