Beginning his career as a samba musician in Brazil, he moved to the United States in the early 1970s and worked with Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Mendes.

"[1] He played on such albums as Earth, Wind & Fire's I Am, Michael Jackson's Thriller, Madonna's True Blue, Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love, hit singles and movie soundtracks, including Saturday Night Fever, Dirty Dancing and Purple Rain among others.

[1] Da Costa was born in Irajá, a neighborhood in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and as a child began learning the pandeiro.

His association with these groups offered him the opportunity to participate in music festivals around the world, in a troupe led by Jorge Goulart and Nora Ney.

[6] Moreover, da Costa ventured into a variety of genres and recorded with artists such as Earth, Wind and Fire, Donna Summer, Tavares, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Rod Stewart, Lionel Richie and Gloria Gaynor.

[8][9][10] He collaborated on producer and visionary Maurice White and Earth, Wind and Fire's albums, All 'N All, I Am, Faces, Raise!, Powerlight, Millennium and In the Name of Love.

[24][25][26][27][28] Michael Jackson called on da Costa for Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I and Invincible.