Born Antônio Gonçalves Sobral in Santana do Livramento, Rio Grande do Sul, he was raised in São Paulo.

As a young man, he worked at a variety of menial jobs, including boxing, before embarking on a career in music that saw him become one of the most popular Brazilian radio singers of the 1950s.

Nelson Gonçalves had a very productive collaboration with lyricist Adelino Moreira and recorded numerous successful albums.

[2] His personal life was sometimes filled with turmoil, and at one time, a cocaine addiction almost destroyed his career.

[3] Nelson Gonçalves died of a heart attack at the age of 79, and was buried at Cemitério São João Batista in Rio de Janeiro.