Sérgio de Castro Gonzaga (1951-2026)

Today, 22nd September 2026, Sérgio de Castro Gonzaga would turn 75 years old. Unfortunately, we have just found out Sérgio passed away on 14 February 2026, and was buried 3 days later, on 17 February 2026, at 11:00 o'clock, at Cemitério Campo Grande, in São Paulo. 

Sérgio Gonzaga on 11 October 2025, 4 months before his passing. 

Sérgio as a child...

Sérgio's 3x4 photo on his Minas Tennis Club identification card.  

Sergio Gonzaga who was born on 22nd September 1951, was 18 years old on 7 May 1970, when Rita Pavone did her only recital at Teatro Olimpiá, former Cine Rex, on Rua Ruy Barbosa, in São Paulo, as part of her 3rd Brazilian tour. 

As soon as our Rita Pavone Fan Club in São Paulo heard Rita would be visiting us for the 3rd time we went into a frenzy buying tickets and making sure to tell everyone about the big event. We managed to rally a dozen or more friends such as Silvia Jentsch, Claudete Deleva, Lulu, Fabio Miranda, Noka & Maria Loch, Lucinda Rato, Soninha etc. Our group occupied most of the 2nd row on the theatre in which the Italian rocker would sing that night. 

Malú Pelaes, who worked at Folha de São Paulo's 5th floor's Folha Informações office on Alameda Barão de Limeira, hit the big time when a fellow photographer who was about to join Pavone's press conference at Hotel Jaraguá asked her whether she wanted to join him, jump on his motorcycle and head to the hotel. So, Malú was at the Jaraguá's lobby during Rita's press conference and noticed there was a quiet young fellow who was most interested in everything the small Italian rocker did. Later, on the same day, Fabio had a chance to talk to the young fan whose name turned out to be Sérgio Gonzaga and was told he was from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais and had checked into Hotel Jaraguá just be able to be near his idol. 

That was the first time I ever heard about this shy 18 year-old young man from Minas Gerais. It seemed to me Sergio avoided contact with fans in general which made us think he was a snob. I don't know whether that's true but it would take 20 year for me to finally speak to him in the early 1990s, when he organized a fans' meeting at the condo he lived on Rua Pedro de Toledo, Vila Mariana.  

After Rita went back to Italy in May 1970, we fans went our separate ways. Luiz aka Lulu went to live in the USA in 1971; Malú Pelaes became an air stewardess for VASP; Silvia kept on drawing on porcelain; Lucinda ended up in Italy where she lived for a few years; Fabio graduated in engineering from USP; Claudete became a ladie's companion; Soninha found work at a State bank; Totó found work at a private bank and later graduated from Uni too. Sergio moved to São Paulo permanently and worked as a book editor. 

All was well, until Lulu, who had been living in Sydney, Australia since 1981, managed to interview Rita Pavone, on 27 Juanuary 1986, a Monday, the day after she and Laura Trenta-Carlini had given a concert at the Brookvale Oval as part of an Italian community cultural festival that had taken place during the celebratiions of Australia Day Week-end. Lulu recorded a fairly long Rita interview and sent a copy to Fabio in Brazil. Fabio was taken aback in disbelief that a mere fan could have commanded the attention of his idol in such a spectacular fashion. Fabio for a moment thought the sky was the limit so he planned a trip to travel to Italy for the first time in his life. During his soujourn in Italy, Fabio ended up meeting Rita's Italian fans and before 1987 was over, Fabio had made his dream come true. He contacted a Brazilian tour promoter who enabled Rita & her group to sing at various venues in São Paulo, Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro in November 1987. 

In order to make Rita's 1987 Brazilian tour successful, Fabio was helped by many fans and Sergio Gonzaga was one of the main operators. What a difference 17 years made! In 1970 both Fabio & Sergio were mere spectators; now, in 1987, they were both in command of Pavone's cavalcade. 

In 1989, Sergio traveled to Milan, where he intended to join forces with Teddy Reno to promote a new turn to Rita's career. She had just released 'Gemma e le altre', in May, a step beyond in her career where she dealt with Lesbianism and other controversial topics. Sergio stayed in Milan for 4 months but clashed wretchedly with Rita's husband and had no choice but to return to South America. 

I finally had the chance to meet (and talk) to Sérgio on 20 October 1990, not long after he returned from his ill-fated Italy trip. An Italian fan called Gianfranco Baraldi accepted Sérgio's invitation to visit Brazil, so he was staying at Sérgio's apartment for a few days. Sergio, then introduced Gianfranco to Brazilian fans and the meeting was a success. Gianfranco was flabbergasted to realize Brazilians were serious in their love for Rita. Malú Pelaes, who had been given a rare copy of 'Zucchero' (made in New Zealand) by Rita herself when Malú helped Rita change costumes during her São Paulo concert on 7 May 1970, sold Gianfranco her most prized possession for a mere 5.00 US dollars. 

That's when I realized Sérgio was not a snob after all. We had a lot in common and became fairly friendly to each other until the winter of 2023, the last time I saw Sérgio in person, even though we kept contact through the Internet.

Sergio is awed by the presence of Rita Pavone at São Paulo Airport, on 17 May 2018; Mauricio Ignacio watches in the background. 

Sergio, Mauricio & Rita at São Paulo's Airport on 17 May 2018.