One of the greatest names in Brazilian popular music, Noel gave a new twist to samba, combining its Afro-Brazilian roots with a more urban, witty language and making it a vehicle for ironic social commentary.

Rosa was born in Rio de Janeiro into a middle-class family of the Vila Isabel neighbourhood.

Although Noel started medicine studies, he gave most of his attention to music and would spend whole nights in bars drinking and playing with other samba musicians.

Noel was a good friend of Cartola, who took care of him several times at his house on the Mangueira slum after some nights of heavy drinking.

[citation needed] In 1934, Rosa married Lindaura Martins, a seventeen-year-old neighbour, but that didn't keep him from having affairs with other women.