The duo "Millionaire and Jose Rico" was formed by Romeu Januário de Matos (1940), a native of Minas Gerais, the "Millionaire", and José do Belmonte (1946-2015), the "José Rico", a native of Pernambuco. The two met in Sao Paulo, in the year 1970, at the hotel where they were staying.

Romeu sang in a double since he was little and Jose Rico played in a trio with two guitars and an accordion. Upon meeting Romeo, José Rico left the trio and formed a duo that became known as "Millionaire and Jose Rico". That same year they recorded the first album. The success only came in 1973 when they recorded for Continental / Chantecler.

The greatest success of the pair was established in 1978, with the song "Estrada da Vida", a ranch song by José Rico that gave the album title. The song originated the eponymous film, based on the life of the two artists, which was a great success.

After the recording of the twentieth album, in 1991, Milionário and José Rico spent three separate years. Both tried to pursue a career as a duo, but in 1994 they sang again together, and released the LP volume 21, titled "Born to Love You" along with the CD, the first of the pair.

On March 3, 2015, the pair lost the singer José Rico, who died in the city of Americana, in São Paulo, a victim of heart problems.