Portuguese fado singer and songwriter Maria do Carmo Carvalho Rebelo de Andrade, better known as Carminho, was born August 20, 1984. She grew up in a family of fado artists. Her mother is well known fado artist Teresa Siqueira.
Her parents organized fado gatherings at home where Carminho listened to records by Lucília do Carmo, Fernando Murício, Amália Rodrigues. In Lisbon, she began to sing in public at the age of twelve at the Coliseo. Later, she performed regularly at the “Taverna do Embuçado en Alfama”, where she learned from other fado artists like Beatriz da Conceição, Fernanda Maria, Alcindo Carvalho, Paquito, and Fontes Rocha.
After completing her university studies, she took a sabbatical year to travel the world, participating in humanitarian missions in India, Cambodia, Peru, and Timor.
Upon her return to Lisbon, Carminho began to sing regularly at the Mesa de Frades restaurant. She quickly began to receive requests to perform at large national and international events. She also participated in Carlos Saura’s multi-award winning film “Fados.”
In 2009, Carminho released her first album Fado considered one of the finest fado recordings of that decade. The album reached platinum and led to an extensive tour of Portugal and Spain.
In 2011, Carminho showcased at the influential Womex (World Music Expo) conference in Denmark. She also toured the UK, France, Holland, Mozambique, and Spain. Her song “Perdóname” with Spanish singer Pablo Alborán reached the number 1 position in the Spanish charts.
In 2012, she released her second album Alma which reached the top of the charts in Portugal. At the end of 2012, after completing more than ninety dates in Portugal and abroad, Carminho fulfilled her dream and recorded with Milton Nascimento, Chico Buarque and Nana Caymmi. The result was a new edition of “Alma” with three unreleased songs.
2013 was a year of success for Carminho in Brazil due to her surprising performance at the opening of the Recife Carnival and with sold-out concerts in Rio de Janeiro and additional performances throughout the country. That same year, she toured Israel, Latvia, Germany, Luxembourg, Turkey, Angola, Spain, Belgium, the United Kingdom and France.
At the end of 2014 she released Canto, an album that collected traditional Portuguese music, beyond fados. Notable artists such as Marisa Monte, Carlinhos Brown, Javier Limón, Antonio Serrano and Caetano Veloso, among others, collaborated in this project.
In 2016, following an invitation from the family of one of Brazil’s greatest composers, she recorded Carminho canta a Tom Jobim (Carminho sings Tom Jobim), together with the band that accompanied Jobim in his last ten years. She shared songs with Marisa Monte, Chico Buarque and Maria Bethânia. Carminho canta Tom Jobim went platinum.
Moving forward, in 2025, Carminho released Eu Vou Morrer de Amor ou Resistir (“I’ll Die of Love or I’ll Resist”). Produced by Carminho herself and released by Sony Music, the album was recorded in Lisbon. It includes eleven tracks, eight of which were composed by the artist. Here, Carminho combines the tradition of fado with elements of electronic and experimental music, in a work where the female voice and emotional introspection take center stage.
One of the album’s gems is the song “Saber,” which features the legendary American artist Laurie Anderson, a pioneer of sound experimentation and electronic vocals. In it, the two artists intertwine their voices, in Portuguese and English, over a poem by Ana Hatherly, creating a dialogue between emotion, technology, and contemporary poetry.
Carminho draws inspiration from a broad lineage of women: from Maria Teresa de Noronha, Beatriz da Conceição, and her mother, Teresa Siqueira, to electronic pioneers like Wendy Carlos and Annette Peacock. The album features Portuguese and electric guitars, a fado viola, a Mellotron, and a vocoder, in a dialogue between the handcrafted and the technological.
“It’s not about changing fado, but about working it with our hands, like an artisan,” shared Carminho.
Another highlight, in 2025, was Carminho’s collaboration with Spanish singer Rosalía on the album Lux. Her collaboration strengthens the bond between two artists who share a deep sensitivity to musical roots and contemporary exploration.
(headline image: Carminho – Photo by Mariana Maltoni)
Discography:
Fado (EMI Music Portugal, 2009)
Alma (EMI Music Portugal, 2012)
Canto (Warner Music Portugal, 2014)
Carminho canta Tom Jobim (Warner Music Portugal, 2016)
Maria (Warner Music Portugal, 2018)
Maria (Warner Music Portugal, 2018)
Portuguesa (Warner Music Portugal, 2023)
Eu Vou Morrer de Amor ou Resistir (Sony Music, 2025)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.