Zeca Pagodinho

Jessé Gomes da Silva Filho (born February 4, 1959), known professionally as Zeca Pagodinho, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter from Rio de Janeiro. Raised in Irajá, he came up through the Cacique de Ramos samba circles alongside Jorge Aragão and Almir Guineto. His self-titled 1986 debut album launched a career spanning samba, pagode, and partido alto, with hits that helped revive pagode nationwide in the 1980s and 1990s.

Pagodinho grew up in Irajá and Del Castilho listening to samba at home — his father played cavaquinho and his mother sang at rodas de samba. He worked as a jogo do bicho note-taker and office clerk before Beth Carvalho discovered him at Cacique de Ramos in 1981.

• •His stage name combines the nickname Zeca with pagodinho, reflecting both his personality and the pagode samba style.
• •He lives simply in Xerém, Duque de Caxias, and is known for an approachable, down-to-earth public persona.
• •He has won multiple Latin Grammy Awards for Best Samba/Pagode Album.