São Paulo, September 2026 – Before Rock in Rio became one of the world’s biggest music festivals, someone had to be the first to step onto that stage. On January 11, 1985, that someone was Ney Matogrosso. More than four decades later, Johnnie Walker revisits that moment in its new campaign, created by AlmapBBDO, using the artist’s journey to explore what comes before every great journey: the courage to take the first step and set things in motion.
With a 12 years of career behind him at the time, Ney was the first artist to perform on the stage of the inaugural edition of Rock in Rio. In front of more than 100,000 people, on a night featuring some of the biggest rock and heavy metal bands in the world, the singer took the stage true to his identity: covered in glitter, wearing a loincloth, eagle feathers on his head, and delivering a performance that challenged conventions. There were boos at the beginning. Ney kept going. By the end, they were no longer what defined the moment. What remained was the courage to begin a new story at what would become Brazil’s biggest music festival.
That is precisely what the campaign explores: what sets a journey in motion. No one gets anywhere by standing still, and moving forward begins with taking that first step, even in the face of doubt, fear or uncertainty. And just like Ney Matogrosso’s journey, the first step is only one of many that keep us moving, opening the way to new achievements and new paths.
Narrated by the artist himself, the film returns to that day to remind us that first steps rarely come with certainty. The new campaign brings a contemporary perspective to Johnnie Walker’s Keep Walking platform. At a time when digital life constantly presents us with people and journeys at their peak, Johnnie Walker turns its attention to what comes before: the courage to begin. The brand aims to encourage that first move, even when there is no certainty, mastery or guarantee of where it may lead.
The tribute also takes on a new form through one of Johnnie Walker’s most recognizable symbols. Ney Matogrosso’s iconic image creates a striking parallel with the brand’s Striding Man, inspiring a new interpretation of the character and turning the artist’s first step into part of the campaign’s visual identity.
“Keep Walking is in the gerund because it represents an invitation to continuous movement, and every journey starts before that: with the decision to take a first step. That step almost never comes with the certainty that everything will work out, but it requires courage. When we look at a story like Ney’s, we can see the impact that a first step, driven by boldness and courage, can have over time, and how many other people can be inspired to keep moving forward from that perspective. This is the transformative power of progress that Johnnie Walker continues to celebrate. At Rock in Rio, this celebration also comes to life in every toast to the stories, steps and journeys that inspire Brazilians along the way,” says Guilherme Martins, Vice President of Marketing and Innovation at Diageo.
“Keep Walking exists because a first step was taken. And there is nothing more powerful to represent that than the journalistic record of the first step taken at the very first Rock in Rio. Ney Matogrosso, in 1985. A first step taken there, and a first step into solo advertising here. It had to be Johnnie Walker. Striding Ney,” conclude Edu Lima and Rodrigo Adam, Executive Creative Directors at AlmapBBDO.
Music, movement and stories that open new paths
The campaign continues Johnnie Walker’s longstanding relationship with music, a territory where the brand finds one of the most powerful expressions of its idea of progress. More than simply maintaining a consistent presence at major festivals, the brand has been building its work around stories of artists who challenged established paths and, by doing so, opened possibilities for those who came after them.
In recent years, initiatives featuring artists such as Paulinho da Costa and Alaíde Costa have brought Keep Walking closer to Brazilian journeys that helped shape and transform the country’s culture. Their stories are different, but connected by a willingness to move forward, experiment and change the rhythm of things. That vision now finds one of its most emblematic representations in Ney Matogrosso’s first step onto the Rock in Rio stage in 1985.
The choice of this moment also reinforces the relationship built between Johnnie Walker and Rock in Rio itself. In 2026, the brand will participate in the festival for the eighth time, once again as the event’s official whisky. Throughout this history, its presence has connected music, celebration and experiences that place audiences at the heart of culture.
At this year’s festival, in addition to the campaign, Johnnie Walker will be present with an exclusive bar in the VIP area, placing the drinking experience at the center of its strategy with a service designed to match the rhythm and energy of the festival. Drinks will be served in a Glorifier developed especially for the occasion and, from 6:30 p.m. onwards, glasses will come with a light-up coaster that illuminates throughout the night.
The campaign is running digitally through the film, while the historic image of Ney Matogrosso at the first Rock in Rio takes over the streets of Rio de Janeiro on large-scale billboards in strategic locations across the city, bringing the tribute to the artist’s first step at the festival into the urban landscape.
