Along with singer Renato Russo and drummer Marcelo Bonfá, he was one of the founding members of that band, who formed in Brasília in 1982.

[1] Villa-Lobos remained with the band through all of their studio albums, until the group dissolved after the 1996 death of Russo.

On 30 May 2012, he attended the Tribute to Legião Urbana with Wagner Moura,[2] where they clashed with a fan during the presentation.

[8][9] In 2001, he was one of the people who first came to rescue Herbert Vianna after he crashed his ultralight plane into the ocean close to Villa-Lobos's house in Mangaratiba; he had flown there with his wife Lucy to attend Villa-Lobos's wife Fernanda's birthday party.

The experience, which took place only five years after Renato Russo's death, impacted Villa-Lobos deeply and he started taking psychotherapy sessions.