Fernando Girão

Fernando António Girão Freitas (São Paulo, Brazil, 14 October 1951) is a Portuguese-Brazilian musician and singer.

He is the son of Brazilian cabocla singer Maria Girão and Portuguese guitarist Fernando de Freitas. Having learnt classical guitar from his father, from the age of 14 he started as a singer in various rock groups in Rio de Janeiro. At 17 he moved to Portugal and was part of Pentágono. Shortly afterwards he joined the Heavy Band, which included some of the best Portuguese musicians of the time. From 1971 to 1973 they went to Angola where they released two singles (‘Beggar Man’ and ‘Your New Motel’). In Brazil they played the first parts for Gilberto Gil, Os Mutantes and Hermeto Pascoal, among others. As a solo artist, he released the single ‘Engrenagem’ in 1972. At the beginning of 1975 he took part, together with Jorge Palma, in the 1975 RTP Song Festival. He also collaborated on the Petrus Castrus album ‘Ascensão e Queda’, released in 1978.
In 1982, the single ‘Intelectual do Café’ from the album ‘Contos da Europa Tropical’ was number one on the debut of the programme ‘Nós Por Cá’ (Rádio Renascença) by Rui Pego and António A. Duarte.
He also released the album ‘Girão Live’, recorded live in 1991, ‘Outros Fados’ in 1993, ‘Dias de Amanhã’ in 1995, and in 1996 he wrote the music for the album ‘Racismo Não’ in favour of AMI, which featured many Portuguese artists. The album ‘Cantos da Alma’ was released in 1998 and ‘Olhos Nos Olhos’ in 2000.

Fernando Girão was one of the guest singers on Roberto Leal's album ‘Uma Carreira em Dueto - De Jorge Amado a Pessoa’ (A Career in Duet - From Jorge Amado to Pessoa), published in 2003, and also on ‘Uma Antologia Híbrida’ (A Hybrid Anthology), a book (84 illustrated pieces) with a preface by Helena Sacadura Cabral, Pedro Abrunhosa and Baptista-Bastos.

He returned to records in 2009 with the album ‘Fado Negro’. The disc includes 12 new songs, two of which are dedicated to her parents.

He is preparing new material for 2025.