Tito Madi

Origin

Pirajuí, SP

Also known as

Chauki Maddi

Years Active

1954–2015

Genres

samba-canção, bossa nova, MPB

Instruments

vocals, acoustic guitar

Biography

Tito Madi, born Chauki Maddi in Pirajuí, São Paulo, was a renowned Brazilian singer and songwriter who gained significant prominence during the 1950s and 1960s. Raised by Lebanese immigrant parents, he initially explored paths in football and radio broadcasting before fully dedicating himself to a musical career in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. His sophisticated sense of harmony and emotive delivery placed him as a crucial precursor to the Bossa Nova movement, influencing numerous contemporaries and later artists alike.

Throughout his career, Madi recorded numerous successful albums and wrote timeless compositions such as "Chove Lá Fora", which became his signature song and earned international recognition with versions recorded abroad. He worked alongside legendary arrangers and musicians such as Radamés Gnattali, Lyrio Panicali, and pianist Ribamar, establishing himself as a staple of Brazilian nightclub circuits. His repertoire also deeply impacted the careers of prominent interpreters like Wilson Simonal, who scored early hits with Madi's songs, and Roberto Carlos.

Even as musical trends shifted toward rock, MPB, and tropicalia in the following decades, Madi remained faithful to his signature samba-canção style. He continued recording and performing well into his later years, releasing notable albums such as Ilhas Cristais and Quero te Dizer que te Amo. Although the latter part of his life was marked by health struggles following a stroke, his enduring legacy as a master songwriter of the pre-bossa nova era remains firmly cemented in Brazilian popular music history.

Discography

• Chove...Lá Fora (1957)
• A Saudade Mata A Gente (1958)
• Sua Voz...Suas Composições (1958)
• Nelly Martins e Tito Madi – Encontro no Sábado (Um LP para Namorados) (1959)
• ... e a Chuva Continua (1959)
• Quero-Te Assim (1959)
• Tito Madi & Ribamar – Carinho e Amor (1960)
• Canção dos Olhos Tristes (1961)
• Romance (1961)
• Sonho e Esperança (1962)
• De Amor Se Fala (1963)
• Amor e Paz (1963)
• Balanço Zona Sul e Outros Sucessos (1966)
• Em Nova Dimensao (1968)
• A Fossa (1971)
• A Fossa Vol. 2 (1972)
• A Fossa Vol.3 (1973)
• Canção de Amor - A Fossa Vol. 4 (1974)
• Carinho e Amor (1976)
• Na intimidade (1986)
• Quem É da Noite Canta (1987)
• Doris Monteiro & Tito Madi – Brasil Samba Canção (1992)
• 20 Preferidas (1996)
• No Palco! (Ao Vivo) (2000)
• Ilhas Cristais (2001)
• A Arte de... Tito Madi Vol.8 (2002)
• Gilson Peranzzetta, Tito Madi – Quero Te Dizer que Eu Amo (2014)
• Um Dia de Chuva (2023)
• Boleros & Beyond, Vol. 9 - Baladas de Recuerdo (2026)
• O Melhor de Tito Madi