Katia Duarte d’Almeida d’Oliveira Rosado Guerreiro (23 February 1976), better known simply as Katia Guerreiro, is a Portuguese fado singer and ophthalmologist born in South Africa.
She divides her life between her passions for music and medicine. She is one of the most international Portuguese fado singers. Her fado is characterized by great lyrical richness, singing contemporary Portuguese writers, with emphasis on António Lobo Antunes.
She had a geographically turbulent path. She was born in South Africa, she grew up on São Miguel Island, in the Azores, where she attended a folklore ranch. She studied and graduated in Medicine in Lisbon. In the 90s of the 20th century she was a vocalist with the group Os Charruas. She worked at the Évora District Hospital and later returned to the capital. It was during the course that she discovered her fado talent, in socializing with colleagues and, in a slightly more serious way, at concerts, after the challenge made by the pair of guitarists formed by Paulo Parreira and João Veiga.
With the same pair and bass guitar Armando Figueiredo, and sponsored by fado singer João Braga, she debuted in 2001 with the album Fado Maior. The album, released by Ocarina, enjoyed great international success, having been released in Japan and South Korea. Among other themes, it includes fados popularized by Amália Rodrigues, her greatest influence, and poems set to music by Fernando Pessoa, Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen and António Lobo Antunes.
In 2003, also through Ocarina, she released the album Nas Mãos do Fado. The title is a reference to the most characteristic of her poses on stage: her hands clasped behind her back. She sings António Lobo Antunes again and, for the first time, visits another of his great references, Dulce Pontes.
Dulce Pontes’ presence is accentuated on the following album, “Tudo ou Nada”, from 2005, in which she purposely wrote the theme “Caravela”. Published by Som Livre, it is the most daring of Katia Guerreiro’s albums so far, featuring a version of “Saudades do Brasil em Portugal”, by Brazilian Vinícius de Morais, and “Menina do Alto da Serra”, a version of the theme with which Tonicha won the 1971 RTP Song Festival. The album also features the participation of jazz pianist Bernardo Sassetti, on the song “Minha Senhora das Dores” with lyrics by Jorge Rosa and music by Paulo Valentim. Once again António Lobo Antunes sings and pays homage to the poet Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen.
In 2006, a box set was released with their first two albums and the album Tudo Ou Nada was reissued, highlighting the collaboration with Brazilian Ney Matogrosso.
In 2008, she released the album Fado Maior through Sony Music, making her debut as an author, alongside Rui Veloso. This work was published on November 17th.
In 2010, she made a special appearance on the first solo album, Karma Train, by guitarist António Mão de Ferro.
In 2010, Katia Guerreiro received the award for “Best Performer” at the 2010 Amália Awards from the Amália Rodrigues Foundation. The award was presented at the gala held on November 4th, at Coliseu dos Recreios, Lisbon.
Katia Guerreiro has given concerts all over the world, in places as diverse as Japan, Morocco, Turkey, France, the Netherlands, New Caledonia, Sweden, Brazil, Bulgaria, Macau, Russia and Spain.
On January 27, 2015, she was made Commander of the Order of Infante D. Henrique.
J’ai découvert la Fado lors du dernier voyage effectué avec ma conjointe au Portugal. J’ai eu le bonheurs d’assister à une prestation où j’ai été ému fortement et je me suis hâté de me procuré un premier CD d’Amälia Rodrigues. Par la suite, en furetant dans Internet, j’ai découvert les autres artistes qui ont marqué l’histoire du Fado. Mais c’est surtout la voix et l’interprétation de Katia qui me remonte le moral et je peux me rappeler les beaux moments passés avant le décès de ma conjointe. Amalia demeure pour moi celle qui a propulsé Fado, Katia lui a donné un autre élan.