Pabllo Vittar is the stage name of Phabullo Rodrigues da Silva, a Brazilian singer, songwriter and drag queen from São Luís, Brazil. Born in 1994, Vittar grows up in cities in the interior of Maranhão and Pará, and becomes known for a career that combines pop music with drag performance.

Career

Vittar begins performing professionally in a nightclub in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais. She first draws wider attention online with the song “Open Bar” in 2015, and later that year releases a debut EP of the same name. In 2016, she joins the cast of the TV Globo programme Amor & Sexo, where she performs musical numbers for two seasons.

Her debut studio album, Vai Passar Mal, arrives in 2017 and brings greater recognition. It is certified platinum by Pro-Música Brazil and includes singles such as “Todo Dia”, “K.O.” and “Corpo Sensual”. Her second and third studio albums, Não Para Não and 111, are also certified platinum by Pro-Música Brazil. Vittar records for ONErpm.

Style and influence

Vittar’s music is described as a mix of pop with a range of other styles, including Brazilian genres she grows up hearing such as tecnomelody, arrocha and forró. The listed genres for her work also include dance-pop and electropop. Her early musical interests are shaped by her mother, and she develops an interest in drag in her teens.

She becomes widely associated with helping to increase public interest in other drag-artist musicians, as well as trans and travesti performers. She is also known for activism in support of LGBTQ+ rights.

Recognition

In 2019, Time includes Vittar in its list of Next Generation Leaders. She is also cited by Forbes as “the most popular drag queen in the world”. Vittar is described as an emblem of gender fluidity, and appears both with and without stage make-up in public. She says she prefers female pronouns when performing in drag, while also showing indifference to gendered pronouns more generally.