Milton Nascimento’s story with adoption shows that it is never too early or too late for the love between parents and children to blossom

That Milton Nascimento is one of the greatest singers of Brazilian Popular Music is no secret to anyone, as he has accumulated over 60 years of career. What many may not know is his personal life story, which begins and ends with an act of pure love: adoption!

O awesome.club recalls the story of Milton Nascimento, one of our musical treasures, and how he adopted a young man and proved that fatherly love doesn’t have an old age to begin — nor to end.

Milton Nascimento’s first professional recording was Barulho de Trem, in 1962, when he was around 20 years old. He participated in some musical groups, including Clube da Esquina, and even competed in music festivals. But he only achieved national notoriety when he composed Canção Do Sal and recorded with Elis Regina. The singer was known for recording songs by unknown composers and, with that, launching them to stardom. That’s what happened to Milton.

After that, he recorded several hits, in addition to partnerships with Clube da Esquina, Beto Guedes, Lô Borges and even a saxophonist from the USA, Wayne Shorter, on the album Native Dancer. This record opened international doors for the Brazilian singer, which made it possible to record with names like Peter Gabriel and Duran Duran, and to gain fans like Björk and the group Earth, Wind and Fire. Not to mention us Brazilians. Who has never been moved by Song of America or Student Heart?

Many Brazilians have Milton Nascimento’s songs on the tip of their tongue, but maybe they don’t know the singer’s origins. He was born in a community in Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, and was raised by his grandmother, since his mother died when he was still 2 years old. A friend of his grandmother, Lilia, couldn’t get pregnant and became very attached to Milton — who had the nickname Bituca. She asked to adopt the little one and the grandmother agreed, so Bituca went to live with Lília and her husband Josino, in Minas Gerais.

Influenced by his mother, who learned music from maestro Villa-Lobos, and his father, who owned a radio station, Bituca grew up surrounded by instruments. But for Milton, he owes his parents much more than his love of music. “Lily. This is the biggest name in my life. I started to take a new direction”, as he said in Fantástico. In honor of him, Milton composed the song Lilia, which has no lyrics. why “There is not a single word in the world that can define the beauty of this woman”.

Bituca had a few marriages that didn’t work out and even had a “symbolic son”, Pablo, from whom he moved away after separating from his mother, Cáritas. In fact, Milton always had the dream of fatherhood, as he himself reported in an interview with Pedro Bial, in 2018. According to him, he tried several times and it never worked. Until he did.

Augusto and Milton met in 2005 through mutual friends. Augusto was 13 years old, was abandoned by his father and lived with his mother, Sandra, who never had relations with Milton. He approached the singer, who was already 63 years old, they started a strong friendship, and they spent their days together in Juiz de Fora and Rio de Janeiro. He knew that Milton always wanted a child and the bonds between the two grew closer and closer.

Milton, who always liked to work with a small team of people dear to him, called Augusto to take care of the copyright of his songs. Augusto, who studied law, agreed and did much more. He began to take care of Bituca’s health and well-being, even suggesting that he spend more time in Juiz de Fora, a quieter city.

After a while, Augusto found out that Milton, then 75 years old, was in a very bad state at the hospital and went running to visit him. When he arrived, the singer cracked a smile and said, “You came.” According to Augusto, “It was the moment I felt most loved in my life. It seemed like everything was resolved.” That day, Milton plucked up courage and made a proposal: “He came up to me and asked if I would accept being his son”. The official adoption came in 2018, when Augusto was able to sign with his father’s last name.

Milton looks full of tenderness at his son Augusto. “It’s a dream that I’ve now finally realized”, he says, “life has given me so much more than I could have hoped for”. Augusto reveals: “People think and say that our relationship saved his life”. He also claims that he suffered from mean comments, but learned to ignore them and focus on the positive transformation that this relationship brought him: “Milton taught me to be an affectionate person like I had never been. Its purity is unbelievable.”

For Augusto, having a father means more than just having someone to take care of him. “It is a mutual will to care and be cared for”, he stated in Conversa com Bial. Milton expressed his feelings about his son through a song composed especially for him, called Além de Tudo. In addition, Bituca also made a song in partnership with the Mundo Bita channel, called O Amor da Adoção.

Milton’s gratitude for being adopted by Lilia and Josino is eternal: “If it weren’t for them, I don’t think I’d even be here”, so much so that he did the same, also becoming an adoptive father. Augusto is also grateful: “Milton gave me the love of fatherhood”. Augusto follows on his father’s side, including in the direction of his farewell tour of the stages that began with a presentation in Rio de Janeiro. At 80 years old, and with his biggest dream ever realized, Bituca decided to retire.

Milton’s story goes beyond the excellent songs and makes us think about how it’s never too late to make our dreams come true. Do you know someone who had a dream come true after many years?