João Cabeleira

João Manuel Pereira Figueiredo Cabeleira known as João Cabeleira, born on August 14, 1962, is a Portuguese guitarist, member of the band Xutos & Pontapés since 1983, when he came to replace Francis (until then, the band’s solo guitarist).

Before being the guitarist for Xutos, he was the guitarist for Vodka Laranja, a band he founded in 1979.

There is footage of shows at the Rock Rendez-Vous club, recently released on DVD, in which he watched a show by his future band (Xutos) before the opportunity to play with them even arose.

He is the only member of the band who does not participate vocally in the shows (not even in second voices), and only once took center stage to perform the song “Dantes”, at Xutos’ 15th anniversary concert at the Coliseu de Lisboa, alongside 2 musicians who at the time were part of the Delfins line-up (Rui Fadigas, on bass, and Jorge Quadros, on drums, making exceptional use of a double pedal, which did not exist in either Delfins or Xutos; Rui Fadigas also gave in to a more technical and meaningful bass than what we are used to hearing in both bands). This was one of Xutos & Pontapés’ most memorable performances (even if they weren’t present in full).

In 2004, he was awarded, along with the other members of Xutos & Pontapés, by the President of the Republic Jorge Sampaio, with the Order of Merit.

Some of his influences that manifest themselves in his excellent guitar playing technique are Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix.

In 2019, he contributed to the song “Rapazes da Praia”, anthem for the centenary of the Football Club “Os Belenenses”, a club of which he is a fan.