Lupicínio Rodrigues

Lupycinio Oliveira Rodrigues, aka Lupicínio Rodrigues or simply Lupi, was an important Brazilian singer-songwriter of samba-canção songs (Porto Alegre, 16 Sep 1914 — 27 Aug 1974). Lupi wrote Carnival, samba, and regionalist songs which express much feeling, particularly melancholy for a lost love. He was the inventor of "dor-de-cotovelo" (heartbreak songs, literally "elbow pain"). He lived in the old Ilhota, a neighborhood of black population in Porto Alegre. Bohemian, he was the owner of several bars, steakhouses and restaurants with live music, everything just to have, much more than profit, a place to meet with bohemian friends. One of his best-known songs, "Se Acaso Você Chegasse", was included on the soundtrack of the Hollywood film "Lady, Let's Dance" (1944), but without proper credit. In 1945, this same soundtrack was nominated for an Oscar. This song was recorded by several Brazilian artists, including João Donato, Elza Soares, and Lupi himself, becoming one of the songwriter's greatest hits. As a Gremio FBPA soccer team supporter, he wrote the club hymn in 1953. On 12 September 2025, Lupicínio was named patron of the Brazilian Popular Music, "Música Popular Brasileira" or MPB, alongside Pixinguinha through Federal Law 15.204/2025. He left about a hundred and fifty songs recorded by himself or other artists, hundreds others were lost or forgotten. He is buried in St. Michael and Souls Cemetery in Porto Alegre, Brazil.