Irmão Lázaro

The late Brazilian gospel music star Antonio Lázaro da Silva, known professionally as Irmão Lázaro ("Brother Lazarus"), enjoyed a varied career across nearly four decades. Born on November 4, 1966, in Salvador, Bahia, his music career began with politicized samba-reggae group Olodum, who were at the forefront of Brazil's Black Movement in the 1990s and with whom he was most famous for spawning 1995 hit "I Miss Her." After a period of drug addiction, he converted to evangelicism and became a celebrated voice of contemporary Christian music, putting out a stream of releases including 2008 live album Testemunho e Louvor, which was recorded at the Central Baptist Church, in the city of Feira de Santana, while also working across a number of different genres and styles including electronic forró. His last release was his Delivery EP in 2019. A national musical treasure in Brazil, Lázaro was also a politician affiliated with Brazil's Liberal Party (PL), elected Congressman by the State of Bahia and a member of the evangelical bench. In 2020, he was elected councilor of Salvador. He died on March 19, 2021 aged 54 due to complications from COVID-19.