The 2025 Rio carnival, at the beginning of March, will be the last in which the public at Passarela do Samba will hear the traditional war cry “Look at the Beija-Flor there, people!” with the voice of Neguinho da Beija-Flor. Having been at the blue and white samba school for 50 years, the singer and performer announced this Wednesday (20) that he will perform just one more parade at the Sambadrome.
“The 2025 parade will mark my farewell as an interpreter of your anthems on the Passarela do Samba”, wrote Neguinho, in a letter addressed “to my beloved Beija-Flor” and published on Instagram.
“We are going to cross the Samba Passarela for the last time, me with my voice and my usual pride, supporting the strength and magic of our community that shines on the altar of the bambas. It will be another moment of our eternal love”, he promised.
The 75-year-old singer has been at the samba school since June 11, 1975, when he joined the composers wing. This means that he has participated in all 14 titles at the school in Nilópolis, a municipality in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. “We insert Beija-Flor de Nilópolis in the history of the biggest popular festival in Brazil. Instead of the protagonist”, he stated.
In his farewell letter, Neguinho shows the deep connection he has with the blue and white team, to the point of having changed his name on his identity card to Luiz Antonio Feliciano Neguinho da Beija-Flor Marcondes.
In farewell, he also remembers all support he received from the association and community by participating in a parade while undergoing cancer treatment in 2009.
“I have faith that I was cured thanks to God and the blessed medicine of Carnival. I will never forget how the community welcomed me, when I returned to rehearsals, on our sacred court. The applause and the mountain of affection are forever tattooed in our memory”, he said.
When describing his relationship with the school, the singer says in his farewell statement that he “never” considered receiving a salary from Beija-Flor. “I never signed a contract or submitted myself to any bureaucracy. Our relationship is unique and requires no protocols. I often repeat that if anyone owes anything, it’s me, my school.”
The most famous voice in the history of the association and, perhaps, even of the Rio carnival, ends with the eternal war cry.
“Thank you for everything, my school, my life, my love. Look at Beija-Flor there, guys!”
In a publication also on Instagram, the samba school showed that the relationship between Beija-Flor and Neguinho is reciprocal. “The year 2025 will be marked by great tributes and memories. We will experience the last parade with the voice of our history. We are filled with pride, gratitude and respect. The professional side ends, but the bond is eternal. Your story is engraved in our colors, our sambas and our hearts”, records the publication.
