Background and career
Phabullo Rodrigues da Silva (born 1 November 1993), known professionally as Pabllo Vittar (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpablu viˈtaʁ]), is a Brazilian drag queen and singer.
Born in São Luís, Phabullo is a fraternal twin and has an older sister. He spent part of his childhood and adolescence living in the cities of Santa Inês and Caxias, both in the interior of Maranhão, due to financial difficulties. He never knew his father, who abandoned his mother, a nurse, when she was pregnant with him. During his childhood, Phabullo experienced bullying due to his delicate gestures and feminine voice. At one point, he was physically assaulted with a plate of hot soup thrown over his face. He attended ballet classes during this period. At the age of 13, Phabullo joined the choir at a local Catholic church and began doing covers at family parties and school performances. Soon after, he began songwriting. Later, he decided to become a professional, moving to Indaiatuba with his sister, where he worked in several places, such as snack bars and beauty salons. Soon after, he moved to Uberlândia with his mother, who had recently married. He came out to his mother at the age of 15, who had suspected that he was gay, and was something that his sister already knew. His mother, whom he talks to daily, is supportive of his sexual orientation.
He then began to go out for the night in Maranhão, to make friends, and to participate as one of a selection of singers in a house of shows. He started performing his own songs and impersonating celebrities for a small fee, but it was not a professional job. He was now dressing feminine, but did not identify himself as a drag queen; the first time that he did drag was at age 17 in Uberlândia, to publicize a party of his friend by delivering pamphlets at the door of a nightclub. With time, he started performing in LGBT parades in several cities of Maranhão and became known by the state's LGBT community. At age 18, in Minas Gerais, Phabullo started participating in and winning some beauty contests in full drag, before beginning his professional career as a singer while adopting the stage name of "Pabllo Knowles", an homage to singer Beyoncé. His first performance as a drag queen occurred at the Belgrano nightclub, owned by producers Ian Hayashi and Leocádio Rezende (whom Phabullo would later recall as "father" figures).
Still in Minas Gerais, Phabullo took a university entrance exam by the Federal University of Uberlândia, where he was admitted to the full design course in 2013, but after some periods he dropped out of college due to his schedule of shows, which increased greatly due to the success of his music videos on the internet and his participation in the band of primetime television program Amor & Sexo.When he attracted attention from entrepreneurs in the entertainment field, Phabullo began a professional musical career, performing in bars and concert halls in Uberlândia and cities of the region. In this period, Phabullo adopted the stage name of Pabllo Vittar. Vittar appeared on TV for the first time in 2014, on a Brazilian talent singing show, performing "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston. The rise to fame in mainstream media came in 2015 with the success of music video "Open Bar", a Portuguese-language version of Major Lazer's song "Lean On" with original lyrics, produced by Bonde do Rolê and Omulu. In less than four months, the video reached one million views on YouTube. Vittar also released an extended play with the same name, using pop hits' instrumentals with new arrangements and lyrics. Vittar has been featured in songs by international artists such as Major Lazer's "Sua Cara" (with fellow Brazilian singer Anitta). The music video was released on 30 July 2017, and reached 10th place on the list of most-viewed online videos in the first 24 hours, with 25 million views. The singer also appears on "I Got It", from Charli XCX's fourth mixtape Pop 2. Vittar collaborated again with XCX on "Flash Pose", released on 25 July 2019; the single was later included on Vittar's album 111. He also got to perform "Flash Pose" at the 2019 MTV Europe Music Awards. In 2024, Vittar was featured on the single "Alibi" alongside Iranian-Dutch artist Sevdaliza and French singer-songwriter Yseult. The song debuted at number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Vittar's first entry on the chart and the second entry of a drag queen on the chart in history.
Vittar is mainly a pop singer, although her music incorporates other genres. Her debut studio album Vai Passar Mal mixes pop with elements of electronic music and Brazilian genres such as tecno brega, arrocha, funk carioca, and forró. Music critics noted that her second studio album Não Para Não follows a similar formula, mixing Brazilian and international influences. Speaking about the latter album, Vittar explained: "I lived in Santa Izabel do Pará and listened to cumbia, carimbó, tecnobrega and guitarrada. In Maranhão, I heard axé and Bahia pagode… Pabllo Vittar is all over this album, I cannot go against my origins." Her lyrics often explore themes such as love, self-confidence, and partying. Vittar is a countertenor with 2.3 octaves of vocal extension already exhibited, spanning from flat E in the third octave (E♭3) to G# in the fifth octave (G♯5). Sérgio Anders, a singing professor at the State University of Minas Gerais, considers Vittar to have "an infantile voice in an adult male". While he views Vittar as a good singer, Anders opines that his technique is not very developed. Shannon Sims of The New York Times described Vittar's voice as a "nasal soprano".
Vittar grew up listening to artists such as Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer, Whitney Houston, and Tina Turner, whom he imitated as a child before he even considered becoming a drag queen, as well as Gilberto Gil, Ney Matogrosso, Elis Regina, Alcione Nazareth, and Caetano Veloso. He became interested in drag after watching the reality show RuPaul's Drag Race and cited RuPaul as an important inspiration: "All the drag artists in this world have to thank RuPaul for the visibility we have today." Some participants of the show have also influenced Vittar, notably April Carrion and Naomi Smalls. Top model Bella Hadid is another strong visual influence, particularly on makeup and style. Her music and performances are greatly influenced by bands such as Banda Batidão and Companhia do Calypso. Early in his career, he used the stage name Pabllo Knowles as a reference to Beyoncé. Other influences include Rihanna, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, and Britney Spears, as well as "Sua Cara" collaborators Anitta and Major Lazer. While making her debut album Vai Passar Mal, Vittar explained that he listened to several artists to find inspiration, citing Liniker and Elza Soares as examples. The album was also influenced by Lana Del Rey, Allie X, Rihanna's album Anti, and Beyoncé's album Lemonade.
