- Father of actress Sílvia Buarque (born 28 March 1969), 'Helena' (born 22 December 1970) and Luísa Buarque de Hollanda (born 17 September 1975).
- Grandfather of Francisco Buarque de Freitas (born 24 August 1996), Clara Buarque (born 23 November 1998), Cecília Buarque Freitas (b. 25 December 2006) and Leila (b. 21 October 2009), children of Helena and composer Carlinhos Brown.
- His biggest mania is soccer: he is a famous supporter of club Fluminense of Rio, has his own field where he plays as striker, with his amateur team full of celebrities, and did a song ("O Futebol") in homage to the world legends Pelé and Garrincha.
- Son of writer and antropologist Sérgio Buarque de Holanda.
- Uncle of singer Bebel Gilberto.
- Beloved by women because of his great habitilty in understanding the female souls in his songs.
- Mother: Maria Amélia Buarque de Hollanda (b. 1910).
- Father-in-law of actor Chico Díaz.
- Father-in-law of composer Carlinhos Brown.
- Grandfather of Irene (Sílvia's daughter), Lia and Teresa (Luisa's daughters).
- His 2017 album Caravanas was elected the 3rd best Brazilian album of that year by the Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone.
- In 2019, Buarque was awarded the Camões Prize, the most important prize for literature in the Portuguese language. However, awarding of the prize was delayed by four years due to actions by Jair Bolsonaro, but Buarque received it in April 2023.
- Following the Brazilian military coup of 1964, Buarque avoided censorship by using cryptic analogies and wordplay. For example, in the song "Cálice" ("Chalice"), a duet written in 1973 with Gilberto Gil and released with Milton Nascimento in 1978, he takes advantage of the homophony between the Portuguese imperative cale-se ("shut up") and cálice ("chalice") to protest government censorship, disguised as the Gospel narrative of Jesus' Gethsemane prayer to God to relieve him of the cup of suffering. The line "Quero cheirar fumaça de óleo diesel" ("I want to sniff diesel fumes") is a reference to the death of political prisoner Stuart Angel, who reportedly had his mouth glued to a jeep's exhaust pipe during a torture session.[14] Buarque was close to Stuart's mother, Zuzu Angel. This song is the subject of the final chapter of the book "First Chico Buarque" (Bloomsbury, 2022) in the Brazil 33 1/3 series.
- The cover art of the Buarque's 1966 album Chico Buarque de Hollanda became a viral internet meme with "happy" Chico and "sad" Chico.
- He left Brazil for Italy for 18 months in 1970, returning to write his first novel in 1972, which was not targeted by censors.
- As a child, he was impressed by the musical style of bossa nova, specifically the work of Tom Jobim and João Gilberto. He was also interested in writing, composing his first short story at 18 years old and studying European literature, also at a young age.
- During the 1970s and 1980s, he collaborated with filmmakers, playwrights, and musicians in further protest works against the dictatorship.
- In 2013 he was awarded with the "Casa de las Américas" prize for 'Spilt Milk' (Leche derramada, Leite derramado), winner of narrative fiction.
- He made his public debut as musician and composer in 1964, rapidly building his reputation at music festivals and television variety shows when bossa nova came to light and Nara Leão recorded three of his songs.
- He wrote "Budapeste", a novel that achieved critical national acclaim and won the Prêmio Jabuti, a Brazilian literary award comparable to the Booker Prize.
- Buarque approached the 1983 Concert for Peace in Nicaragua as a valid forum to vocalize his strong political views. The Concert for Peace in Nicaragua was one in a concert series known as the "Central American Peace Concerts." These concerts featured various Latin American artists.
- Before becoming a musician, Buarque decided at one point to study architecture at the University of São Paulo, but this choice did not lead to a career in that field; Buarque often skipped classes.
- During his childhood, he lived in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Rome.
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