Singer Jerry Adriani was one of the artists who most honored the origin of his family coming from Italy. Born in Brás neighborhood, in São Paulo, recorded songs in Italian, went through rock and was part of the Young guard, establishing himself as one of the great names in Brazilian music.
Jair Alves de Sousa was born on January 29, 1947 in the capital of São Paulo, where he lived a typical life of Italian-Brazilian families in big cities.
Passionate about music from an early age, learned to sing in Italian from her grandmother and debuted in his recording career recording songs by Italian composers.
Jerry Adriani, Italianissimo
In 1964, after some time singing in the rock group the rebels, released the album Italian, which featured songs like The Mio Signore e A Piccolissimo Potty.
At that time he had already adopted the stage name Jerry Adriani, in honor of two foreign artists: the North American actor Jerry lewis and the Italian singer Adriano Celentano.
Still in 1964, he recorded his second album, called Believe me, also featuring Italian songs, such as Ho Chiusco Le Finestre e 24 Pray Al Giorno.
The following year the first album in Portuguese came out, A Great Love. At the time, she started presenting the program Excelsior a Go Go, in the old TV Excelsior from São Paulo, next to the communicator Luis Aguiar. Among the regular guests were artists such as The VIPs, The Incredibles, Trini Lopez e Cidinha Campos, Among others.
Success on TV Tupi
Between 1967 and 1968, he started presenting The Big Parade, program of TV Tupi from São Paulo, alongside artists such as Neyde Aparecida, Zélia Hoffmann, Betty Faria e Marília Pera. It was a live musical with performances by big names in Brazilian popular music.
He also appeared in films such as actor and singer, including productions This Kitty is Mine (1966) Jerry, The Big Parade (1967) and Jerry in search of treasure (1967)
The discoverer of Raul Seixas
Jerry Adriani was the responsible for the departure of Bahian singer Raul Seixas to Rio de Janeiro. The two had been friends since the time Raul had the band. Raulzito and the Panthers, in Salvador, which became Jerry's backing band for three years.
Among the songs in the repertoire were Everything that is good lasts a short time, Too late e Sweet, Sweet Love, which were composed by Raul and were performed by Jerry Adriani. Between 1969 and 1971, Raul Seixas was its producer, until starting his solo career.
In the 1970s, Jerry Adriani performed in countries such as Venezuela, Peru, United States, Mexico e to Canada. In 1975, she participated in a musical at the Hotel Nacional, Brazilian Follies, directed by Caribe Rocha, which ran for a year and a half. During this period, she embarked on soul music, recording songs by hyldon, Paulo Cesar Barros e Robson Jorge.
In 1981, Jerry Adriani performed at the Fairgrounds Governador Valadares, in Minas Gerais, for more than 30 thousand people.
Rock and more Italian music
At the beginning of the 1990s, the singer recorded an album that brought back his origins of rock and roll, called Elvis Lives, a tribute to Elvis Presley.
In 1994, at the invitation of the actor and director Cecil Thiré, participated in the soap opera 74.5: A Wave in the Air, produced by TV PLUS and displayed by Headline Network and also broadcast in Portugal, with great success.
In 1999, Jerry Adriani released the album Forza Semper with songs by the band Legião Urbana in Italian. It was one of the biggest hits of his post-Jovem Guarda career, reaching the 200 thousand copies sold. The song Santa Luccia Luntana was included on the soundtrack of the telenovela Our land.
In 2001, he released the CD Everything reminds me of you, title of the track that was part of the soap opera’s soundtrack Wheel of Life, displayed by Record TV. The disc had Love that I brought you, by Zeca Baleiro, Crystalline Fountain, from Peninha and Star Knight, which he composed in honor of Raul Seixas.
In 2002, he released the CD The sound of the bar 11, in which he performed classics of Italian song, such as Song for you, I who love only you, For love e Controversial thing.
Jerry Adriani and his friends from Jovem Guarda
In 2005, he participated in the project Rocking party – 40 years of Jovem Guarda, presented throughout the month of August, at Teatro II do Banco do Brasil Cultural Center, in Rio de Janeiro. The show also passed through Brasília and São Paulo and featured artists such as Waldirene, Erasmus Carlos e Wanderlea.
In 2007, he recorded the DVD, Jerry Adriani Acoustic Live, at Canecão, Rio de Janeiro, also released on CD, with reinterpretations of hits that became classics from his career e some new songs.
Interpreter Jerry Adriani
In his shows to promote the CD, the singer included national and international pop hits, such as Mount Castle (Urban Legion) and As tears go by (Rolling Stones).
In 2011, he released the CD pop, Jerry & Rock, with tributes to Raul Seixas e Tim Maya. The following year, she presented the show Jerry plays Raul & Elvis, at Teatro Rival, in Rio de Janeiro.
In 2014, in celebration of the 50 years of career, went on a tour of Brazil. In 2016, she recorded the live CD and DVD Another Jerry Adriani. The performance was filmed in black and white and included hits from Ivan Lins (Remember me), Lenine (The measure of passion) and Nana Caymmi (Response to time).
Death
Jerry Adriani died at age 70, on April 23, 2017, victim of pancreatic cancer. The disease progressed quickly, after two weeks of hospitalization at Vitória Hospital in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro.
The singer had already been treating a venous thrombosis in his leg, but continued to perform until shortly before being hospitalized. His body was buried in Saint Francis Xavier Cemetery, in Caju. Jerry had three children and a grandson.
Last Name
According to the Cognomix website, the Italian surname Adriani is toponymic, originating from the name of a locality. It derives from Latin Hadrian, the name given to citizens from the city of Hadra, currently Adria, south of Venice, which gave rise to the name Adriatic sea.
This surname has several lineages, in areas such as Vicenza, Florença, Elba Island, Livorno, Perugia, Abruzzo, Teatine, Teramo, L 'Aquila, Rieti, Frosinone, Rome and Bari.
There are approximately 644 Adriani families in Italy, with a greater predominance in Lazio (242) Umbria (67) and Abruzzo (67)
The surname Adriani is 893rd in popularity in the Umbria region, 345th in the province of Rieti and 11th most popular in the city of Marciana Marina (Livorno).
FOLLOW ITALIANISM
