Paulinho da Costa

Paulinho da Costa was born in Rio de Janeiro and began exploring percussion as a child. As a teenager, he was part of groups that traveled the world; he later settled in the United States, where he built a career as a session musician.

He played on recordings by artists such as Michael Jackson, Madonna and Quincy Jones. Besides thousands of appearances on other people’s records, he released work of his own, among it Agora, Happy People, Sunrise and Breakdown.