He gained national attention in the early 1970s with the success of "Das 200 Para Lá", a samba advocating the policy of expanding Brazil's maritime border along the 200-mile continental shelf.

Later, he recorded "Não Tem Tradução", once again revering the Vila poet, one of the three pillars of his inspiration, alongside Geraldo Pereira and Wilson Batista, whose influences explained his style of composing and singing samba.

The album also included three collaborations with a talented young guitarist, Cláudio Jorge, with whom he wrote three tracks ("Samba da Bandola", "Chorando Pelos Dedos", and "Para fugir Nunca Mais").

When Diogo Nogueira, his son, sings "Espelho", the title track of the album João released in 1977, he is referring to his father in the lines, "One day I kicked badly and hurt my toe / And without having the old man to scare away the fear / It was another desire that was left behind."

In 1979, João founded the Clube do Samba with Alcione, Martinho da Vila, and Beth Carvalho, an entity to which he dedicated the title of his album that year, bringing new hits like "Súplica" and "Canto do Trabalhador" (with P. C. Pinheiro).

Frequently, the program would bring together people like Ivone Lara, João Nogueira, and Roberto Ribeiro, who was honored by the block in Carnival one year after his death.

It is "Poder da Criação" ("No one makes samba just because they prefer / No force in the world interferes / With the power of creation"), again with P. C. Pinheiro, his most frequent partner, with whom he released the CD Parceria in 1994, celebrating 22 years of joint compositions and more than fifty works.

Among the seventeen tracks of the CD, there is a tribute to Clara Nunes, who died in 1983, in the songs "Um Ser de Luz" and "As Forças da Natureza", with emotional lines like "The plagues and the weeds / The weapons and the evil men / Will disappear / In the ashes of a Carnival."

He also participated in the album Esquina do Samba, recorded live in 2000 at the Pirajá bar in São Paulo, with Ivone Lara, Walter Alfaiate, Beth Carvalho, Moacyr Luz, Luiz Carlos da Vila, and others.

João Nogueira died in the early hours of June 5, 2000, at the age of 58, from a massive heart attack at his home in Recreio dos Bandeirantes.

But under medical observation, he was confident, led a more regulated life, and rehearsed for shows he was planning to perform, in which he intended to present new works in addition to hits from his last album, João de Todos os Sambas, released in 1998 at the Acadêmicos da Rocinha Samba School court, in the favela honored in the album: "By the sea / On a hill that was still unpopulated / And divided Gávea and São Conrado / A favela was born," he sang in the track "Rocinha".

João left behind four children, including Diogo, who took up the baton, did not let the peteca fall, and makes us miss his father, given the physical and vocal resemblance and the charm with which he represents the best carioca samba.

Participants included Zeca Pagodinho, Beth Carvalho, Dona Ivone Lara, Arlindo Cruz and Sombrinha, Emílio Santiago, Carlinhos Vergueiro, and João's family: nephew Didu, son Diogo, and sister and partner Gisa.