Biography
Born in Lisbon's Alfama district during 1920, singer Amália Rodrigues grew up as one of ten siblings after her mother abandoned the family when she was only a year old; her grandmother then raised her amid street vending and seamstress work. Defying relatives, the teenager took the stage as a tango dancer, and at nineteen she launched her professional singing career with her sister Celeste at the Lisbon venue Retiro da Severa.
She quickly became a sensation whose nightly performances packed venues to capacity. A 1944 journey to Brazil brought massive audiences to the Copacabana Casino, after which she returned to Rio de Janeiro for her debut recordings. Rodrigues not only spread fado across South America but also transformed the genre, merging Lisbon and Coimbra traditions while choosing repertoire that probed profound spiritual and existential struggles rather than conventional heartbreak, all delivered with unmatched fatalistic intensity and spectral elegance.
Her manager José de Melo discouraged Portuguese studio work until 1951, fearing recorded material would reduce live attendance; she eventually cut several tracks for the Melodia label before switching to Valentim de Carvalho the next year. Following World War II she expanded her tours beyond South America, achieving global success in 1956 with the live recording of "Coimbra" captured at Paris' Olympia Theatre.
Across her career Rodrigues released more than 170 albums and appeared in multiple feature films, sustaining strong audiences even as fado's popularity declined through the 1960s. She kept performing well into her seventies before surgery prompted retirement, after which she lived in seclusion until her final public outing at the 1998 opening of Lisbon's Expo. She passed away on October 6, 1999, at age seventy-nine; Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres responded by declaring three days of national mourning and naming her "the Voice of Portugal."
She quickly became a sensation whose nightly performances packed venues to capacity. A 1944 journey to Brazil brought massive audiences to the Copacabana Casino, after which she returned to Rio de Janeiro for her debut recordings. Rodrigues not only spread fado across South America but also transformed the genre, merging Lisbon and Coimbra traditions while choosing repertoire that probed profound spiritual and existential struggles rather than conventional heartbreak, all delivered with unmatched fatalistic intensity and spectral elegance.
Her manager José de Melo discouraged Portuguese studio work until 1951, fearing recorded material would reduce live attendance; she eventually cut several tracks for the Melodia label before switching to Valentim de Carvalho the next year. Following World War II she expanded her tours beyond South America, achieving global success in 1956 with the live recording of "Coimbra" captured at Paris' Olympia Theatre.
Across her career Rodrigues released more than 170 albums and appeared in multiple feature films, sustaining strong audiences even as fado's popularity declined through the 1960s. She kept performing well into her seventies before surgery prompted retirement, after which she lived in seclusion until her final public outing at the 1998 opening of Lisbon's Expo. She passed away on October 6, 1999, at age seventy-nine; Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres responded by declaring three days of national mourning and naming her "the Voice of Portugal."
Albums

Gostava de ser quem era: 2024
2024

Selección 5 Estrellas Black, Amalia Rodrigues
2024

The Best Voices Collections, Amália Rodrigues
2024

Amalia La Reina Del Fado, Vol. 2
2024

Amalia La Reina Del Fado, Vol. 1
2024

Povo que lavas no rio
2023

Coimbra
2023

Uma casa portuguesa
2023

Há festa na mouraria
2023

Nem às paredes confesso
2023

Tia Macheta
2023

Fado do Ciúme
2023

Troca de olhares
2023

Ai Lisboa
2023

Amália Live - A Voz Do Portugal (Ao Vivo)
2023

Amália Rodrigues Live In Japan
2022

Amália Rodrigues: Edição Especial
2021

Ensaios
2020

Raizes. Amália Rodrigues Canta os Mais Célebres Fados Portugueses
2020

Fados, Rancheiras & Flamengos
2020

Amália em Paris
2020

Amália Rodrigues
2020

Amália Rodrigues (Sings Fado From Portugal Flamenco From Spain)
2020

O Inicio (Amália Rodrigues)
2020

Amália Rodrigues (Rosa Amarelo)
2020

The Fabulous Amália
2020

Golden Memories Collection
2020

Amália
2020

The Fabulous
2020

Amália (Fados Tradicionais)
2020

Amália At The Paris Olympia - Ao Vivo
2020

Coimbra, Lisboa antiga, Uma casa portuguesa... and more Hits!
2020

O Melhor de Amália
2020

Amália Essential
2020

Busto
2019

Meus Sucessos
2019

Com que Voz
2019

Greatest Songs
2018

É ou não É?
2018

Primeros Éxitos, Vol. 2 (1942-1955)
2018

Primeros Éxitos, Vol. 1 (1942-1955)
2018

Fados 67
2018

Coliseu, Lisboa (1987)
2017

Barco Negro
2017

Amália em Itália - "a una terra che amo"
2017

Amália… canta Portugal
2016

La Inigualable Reina del Fado
2016

With Don Byas
2016

Someday
2015

Grandes canciones de Amalia Rodrigues
2015

Amalia
2015

O Fado
2015

La Reina del Fado
2015

Amália Rodrigues - The Greatest Hits
2015

Estrelas da Música Portuguesa
2015

Fado Português
2015

Eu Amo Os Fados
2015

Amália la Reina del Fado
2015

Au café Luso
2015

Amália no Chiado
2014

Amália de Porto em Porto
2014

Paris 1960
2013

Amália Rodrigues o Melhor Vol. 2
2013

Amália Rodrigues o Melhor Vol. IV
2013

O Melhor Vol. 1
2013

Amália canta David
2013

Lágrima
2013

Vou dar de beber à dor
2013

The Essential of Amália Rodrigues
2012

Sucessos Em Paris
2012

Amália At Abbey Road
2012

Amália Rodrigues - Fado
2012

Amália Sings Traditional Fado
2011

The Queen Of Fado
2011

Una casa portuguesa
2011

Amália Rodrigues Ao Vivo Café Luso 1955 - Olympia 1956 - Bobino 1960 (Restauración 2022)
2011

Ao Vivo
2011

Amália Rodrigues - Olympia e Espanhol
2010

Amália Rodrigues - Cinema e Teatro
2010

Amália Rodrigues - Fado e Canção
2010

Marchas
2010

Vintage Music No. 65 - LP: Amália Rodigues
2010

Maria Da Cruz
2010

Amália Rodrigues en español
2010

Amália vol.3
2010

Amália Vol.2
2010

Amália Vol. 4
2010

Amália Vol.1
2010

Amália-The Greatest Songs
2009

The Music of Portugal / Amalia Rodrigues, Vol. 1 / 1945 - 1953
2009

Amália Secreta 1953-1958
2009

As Primeiras Gravações 1945-1951/2
2009

Amália Rodrigues, Vol.01
2008

The Music of Portugal / Amália a l'Olympia (1957)
2008

The art of Amália Rodrigues Vol. II
2008

Fados & Flamencos
2007

The Best Of Amalia
2007

Fado português
2006

Tudo isto é fado
2005

On Broadway
2005

Amália Rodrigues, Vol.02
2005

The art of Amalia Rodrigues vol.I
2005

Lisboa antiga
2004

Serie Los Inmortales - La Reina Del Fado Canta Fados, Rancheras Y Flamencos
2003

The Very Best Of Amalia Rodrigues
2001

Abbey Road 1952
2001

Amália no Café Luso
2001

Folclore à guitarra e à viola
2001

Asas fechadas
2001

Fado
2000

A Diva do Fado
1999

Uma Casa Portuguesa
1998

Obsessao
1998

Amalia Rodrigues
1997

Fados Clássicos
1997

Segredo
1997

Queen Of Fado
1996

The Best of Fado
1996

Fado Lisboeta
1996

Gostava de ser quem era
1995

Amália no Canecão
1994

Amália Rodrigues no Japão
1992

Cantigas numa língua antiga
1992

Oiça lá ó senhor vinho
1992

Obsessão
1990

Encontro com Don Byas
1989

Amália Rodrigues canta Portugal
1989

Com que voz
1987

Maldição
1967

Vintage World Nº 39 - EPs Collectors "Campinos Do Ribatejo"
1958

Amália no Olympia
1957

Vintage World Nº 37 - EPs Collectors "In Concert At L'Olympia Of Paris"
1957

Vintage World Nº 40 - EPs Collectors "Cabeça De Vento"
1957

Lisboa Antiga / Coimbra (Remastered)
1957

Vintage World Nº 38 - EPs Collectors "Doce Cascábeles"
1956

Vintage World Nº 36 - EPs Collectors "Les Amants Du Tage"
1955
Singles
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