Ronald once showed promise on the pitch when he earned a call-up to Brazil’s U18 squad for the 2017 Maccabiah Games.
He soon took a different path, leaving football to pursue music full time. At 26, he has built a sizable fan base, with more than 480,000 followers on Instagram, according to The Sun.
Ronald produces electronic and house music. His tracks have also drawn hundreds of thousands of streams on Spotify.
Despite Ronald’s decision to leave football behind, Ronaldo has supported his son’s choice.
“He’s an amazing DJ and he’s in Brazil. It’s my fault, I used to play CDs all the time. He grew up seeing me playing lots of music and he became a DJ,” Ronaldo said, speaking to former Real Madrid team-mate David Beckham during a live stream in 2020. “He’s very good, he plays electronic music. In Brazil and everywhere they call him. Last year he played in Ibiza for three different clubs.”
Ronaldo Nazario (C) with his son Ronald and his ex-wife Milene Domingues. Photo from Milene Domingues’s Instagram |
Ronald has not completely left football behind. He has blended both passions by performing at major football events, according to Daily Star. In 2020, he played music before Cruzeiro’s victory over Vasco da Gama, a win that secured promotion to Brazil’s top division, Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, energizing more than 60,000 fans in the stands.
Born in Milan in 2000, Ronald is the first and only son of Ronaldo and his first wife, former footballer Milene Domingues. The couple married in December 1999 and divorced four years later.
Ronaldo scored 352 goals in 518 club matches and played for major teams including Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan. He won the Ballon d’Or twice, in 1997 and 2002, but never lifted the Champions League trophy. For Brazil, he scored 62 goals in 98 appearances and was part of the country’s World Cup-winning squads in 1994 and 2002.
In 1997, Ronaldo moved from Barcelona to Inter Milan in what was then a world-record US$31 million transfer. According to Italian market analysis firm PlayRatings, adjusted for inflation, that fee would equal about $471.5 million today.
After retirement, Ronaldo remained active as a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador, a role he has held since 2000. He also moved deeply into football management. In September 2018, he became the majority shareholder of Real Valladolid after buying a 51% stake. In December 2021, he invested about $70 million to take control of his childhood club Cruzeiro, though he sold his stake in April 2024.
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