Noriel Vilela de Arantes was a Brazilian singer born on May 3, 1936 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Raised in the Lins de Vasconcelos neighborhood, he worked as a mechanical turner before entering music professionally in the early 1960s as a member of Nilo Amaro e seus Cantores de Ébano, where his deep bass voice became one of the vocal group’s defining features. With the ensemble, he contributed to a repertoire that helped bring national attention to songs such as "Leva eu saudade" and "Uirapuru." Noriel Vilela began recording as a solo artist in 1964 with a Polydor EP that included "Olha o Telefone" and "Canção da Felicidade", then moved to Copacabana for the 1968 single "Só o Ôme" / "Peço Licença". His only full solo album, Eis o "Ôme", followed in 1969, mixing samba, sambalanço, samba-rock, soul touches and Afro-Brazilian religious imagery on songs such as "Promessado", "Saravando Xangô", "Eu Tá Vendo no Copo", "Meu Caboclo Não Deixa", "Acocha Malungo" and "Saudosa Bahia". In 1971, he released "16 Toneladas", a Portuguese-language samba-rock adaptation of Merle Travis’ "Sixteen Tons" that became his best-known recording. Further singles followed through the early 1970s, including "Ganga Zumba", "Bernardine", "Tá com Medo, Diz" and "Je Suis La Maria", but his career was cut short when he died in Rio de Janeiro on January 20, 1975, at age 38. In later decades, "16 Toneladas" remained his signature track, reaching new listeners through re-recordings, compilations and renewed interest in Brazilian samba-rock and rare groove.
