Ricardo Ribeiro

Ricardo Ribeiro, a Portuguese fado singer devoted to traditional approaches, issues full-length solo albums only sporadically, yet each one draws strong public interest. He entered the world on August 19, 1981, in Lisbon, where fado legend Fernando Maurício served as his chief inspiration. His first commercial recording appeared in 2004 when he contributed the track “Quando Se Gosta de Alguém” to the compilation A Tribute to Amália Rodrigues; later that same year he issued his self-titled debut album Ricardo Ribeiro. Critics praised the record, and in 2005 it earned him the Prémio Revelação Masculina da Fundação Amália Rodrigues. Five years passed before another full-length release, during which Ribeiro remained visible through selected appearances. His song “A Lua e o Corpo” was included on the 2006 compilation Álbum Vermelho do Fado, “Casa de Fados” appeared on the 2007 soundtrack to the documentary Fados, and “Rezando Pedi por Ti” featured on the 2008 anthology Fado Presente: A Nova Geração do Fado. That year he also joined Lebanese oud player and composer Rabih Abou-Khalil on the album Em Português. In 2010, six years after his initial solo outing, Ribeiro returned with Porta do Coração, supported by Pedro de Castro on guitar along with Jaime Santos and Joel Pina on viola. The album reached the Top Five on the Portuguese albums chart and yielded the single “Moreninha da Travessa.”