Roberta Miranda criticizes Rick Sollo's 1 million follower surge after death

Brazilian singer Roberta Miranda publicly criticized the growth of Rick Sollo's social media following in the wake of his death, expressing concern about how public recognition often arrives too late. Rick Sollo, a 59-year-old sertanejo artist who formed the duo Rick and Renner, died on September 21, 2026, when a helicopter crashed in the Serra Catarinense region of Santa Catarina state. The aircraft, a Bell 430 helicopter (registration PP-MGR), was traveling from Porto Belo to São Joaquim when it lost communication during flight. Five people died in the crash: Rick, entrepreneur Bruno Avelar, videographer Paulo Soares, and two crew members.

In the early hours of September 24, Roberta Miranda shared a social media post questioning Rick's gain of over 1 million followers following the confirmed death announcement on September 22. The post stated: "Rick gained 1 million followers because he died. This makes no sense at all. Value people while they are alive! Everyone has something good to say about you, they're just waiting for you to die to post." Miranda added her own reflection in a follow-up comment: "I thought the same... it's frankly cruel not to value in life someone who did so much for music."

Miranda had also expressed her grief earlier, recounting that she had been among those following news of the search efforts with hope. "It's a sad day, isn't it? Waking up to news like this, where we were all praying, trying to have a light of hope so that Rick and everyone on the plane would survive," she wrote. Her comments sparked broader reflection on social media behavior surrounding celebrity deaths and the tendency to defer public recognition until after a person has passed away.