Born in the city of Lauro de Freitas, in the metropolitan region of Salvador, Damião Ferreira da Cruz had a troubled and precarious childhood. He was constantly mistreated by his parents, having decided to run away from home in his early teens and move to the state of Rio de Janeiro.

As one of the most important personalities in the Brazilian counterculture, Daminhão Experiença was a singer, composer, lyricist, producer and instrumentalist, who became a reference for many Brazilian MPB, pop and rock artists. Among them, big names like Rogério Skylab , Lulu Santos and Titãs.

In his career, he recorded more than 30 vinyls, which he sold on the sidewalks of Ipanema beach. He never signed a record deal. His most illustrious participation in albums was with backing vocals on the track “Forró de Janeiro”, from the album “Pérola Negra”, released by Luiz Melodia in 1973.

Due to his socially closed behavior, Daminhão Experiença did not like to give interviews and never signed any document. For this reason, he was hampered throughout his career in terms of copyright gains for the songs he composed.

Retained in an apartment in the Copacabana neighborhood until the end of his life, Daminhão Experiença died on December 10, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, at the age of 81.

Sources:

http://www.palmares.gov.br/?p=48645#:~:text=Seu%20nome%20real%20era%20Dami%C3%A3o,Est%C3%A1cio%2C%20na%20zona%20norte% 20 carioca .

https://oglobo.globo.com/rio/da-lenda-ao-ostracismo-historia-de-daminhao-experienca-18087617