Sérgio Godinho was born in 1945, in Porto. His mother and uncle had had musical training, which influenced him as a child, and his father was, in Sérgio Godinho’s description, a music lover; he soon got used to listening to music, mainly French and Anglo-Saxon.
At just 20 years old, Sérgio Godinho left his degree in Economics and went abroad. The first destination was Switzerland, where he studied Psychology for two years; at that time he had among his teachers Jean Piaget. Then he moved to France, living in May 68 in the French capital. The following year, he joined the French production of the musical “Hair”, where he remained for two years. In Paris, he shared with other Portuguese musicians, such as Luís Cília and José Mário Branco. Sérgio Godinho was then rehearsing his first compositions, at the time in French.
In 1971, he participated in the debut solo album by José Mário Branco, entitled Change times, change wills, as a musician and as the author of four of the lyrics. In 1971 he made his recording debut with the release of E.P. A Day on the Road novel, which is followed by his first L.P., The Survivors. Three days after its release, the record was banned, then authorized, and then banned again. However, the album was elected “Best Album of the Year” and Godinho received the Press Award for “Best Author of the Year”.
In 1972 Sérgio presented a new album, Pré-histórias, which includes one of the most emblematic themes of his career: «A noite cena» (A noite cena). In the same year, he collaborated again with José Mário Branco, as lyricist on the album Margem in a certain way.
In 1973 Sérgio Godinho moved to Canada, where he married Shila, a colleague in the theater company The Living Theater. He was part of the Genesis theater company. He settled in a hippie community in Vancouver, and it was there that he received the news of the 25th of April Revolution, which led him to return to Portugal. Already in Portuguese lands, he edited the album À Queima-Roupa (1974), a success that made him travel the country, performing in popular demonstrations, frequent after the 25th of April.
Having returned to Portugal after the democratic revolution of the 25th of April 1974, Sérgio Godinho became the author of some of the most unanimously acclaimed songs in Portuguese music – «With a sparkle in the eyes», «The first day», «É Tuesday- fair’, to name just three.
In 1975, he participated, with José Mário Branco and Fausto, in the soundtrack of the film by Luís Galvão Telles, “A Confederação”. The following year, he wrote the theme song for the film by José Fonseca e Costa “Os Deénios de Alcácer Quibir”, in which he participated as an actor. The theme would later be included on his new album, “De pequenino se torce o Destino” (1976).
In 1977, he collaborated on two themes for the soundtrack of the film “We are here for all of you”, directed by Fernando Lopes. His fifth album of originals, “Pano-cru”, was released the following year. In 1979, the album “Campolide” was released. The album would be awarded the “Música & Som Criticism Award” for the best Portuguese music album of that year.
In 1980, he collaborated again with director José Fonseca e Costa, this time in the Portuguese cinema classic, “Kilas, o Mau da Fita”. The album with the soundtrack of the film was published that same year. “Canto da boca”, a new album of originals, was also released in 1980, having received the prize for “Best Portuguese album of the year”, awarded by Casa da Imprensa and, also, the Sete de Ouro for the “Best Portuguese singer of the year”. year”.
In 1983, on his album “Coincidências”, he included songs composed in partnership with some of the most renowned Brazilian musicians – names like Chico Buarque, Ivan Lins or Milton Nascimento – something hitherto unheard of in Portuguese music production.
In the six years that followed, Sérgio Godinho recorded three more original albums – “Salão de Festas”, “Na Vida Real” and “Aos Amores”. The collection “Once upon a boy” (1985) and the children’s album “Sérgio Godinho canta com os Amigos do Gaspar” (1988) were also published.
In 1990, he presented the show “Sérgio Godinho, Escritor de Canções”, where he revisited his songs from a new perspective – just two accompanying musicians and in a smaller auditorium, in this case the Franco-Portuguese Institute, where he performed 20 highly successful shows. . From these shows came the live album “Escritor de Canções”.
He was the author of the series “Luz na Sombra”, shown by RTP 2 in the summer of 1991, where he addressed in six programs some of the lesser-known professions in the music world: lyricists, sound technicians, producers, etc.; . In 1992, he made three fiction films, each half an hour long, with his own script and music. These films, with the generic title of “Ultimatums”, were produced for RTP, which showed them in 1994.
He also wrote “The Little Book of Fears”, a children’s work, which he also illustrated.
He returned to music in 1993, with the album “Tinta permanent” and the show “A face visible”, both deserving of the highest praise from critics and the public.
On June 9, 1994, he was made an Officer of the Order of Liberty.
In November 1995, the album “Past Nights” was released, which was recorded live in three shows held at Teatro S. Luiz in November 1993 and at Coliseu de Lisboa in November 1994. He also received the Tenco Award and was invited to to participate in the Christmas compilation “Espanta-spirits” with the theme “Just a brother” in a duet with PacMan (vocalist of the band Da Weasel).
In June 1997, the album “Domingo no Mundo” was released, produced by Manuel Faria, with the participation of musicians and arrangers from different musical areas: (Pop, Rock, Popular, Erudite, Jazz). The album was presented with great success at the Teatro Rivoli in Porto and at the Coliseu in Lisbon, in the shows called “Godinho no mundo”.
In 1998, the album “Rivolitz” was released, recorded live at the shows at Teatro Rivoli and at the Ritz Clube, in Lisbon.
In 2000, Sérgio Godinho returned with the album “Lupa”, with ten original songs and production by Hélder Gonçalves and Nuno Rafael. The album was presented live, in November of that year, with two shows at the Centro Cultural de Belém and one at the Coliseu do Porto.
Two thousand and one was the year of 30 years of career. The anniversary was marked by the release of “Biografias do Amor”, a collection of love songs, and of “Afinidades”, a recording of the shows together with the Clã.
Sérgio Godinho in 2004, performing at the Festa do Avante!.
In 2003, the album “Irmão do Meio” was released, where Sérgio Godinho joined some friends with whom he shared 15 songs. Among many other artists, Camané, Da Weasel, Jorge Palma, Teresa Salgueiro, Tito Paris, Xutos e Pontapés and some great names of Brazilian popular music participated in this album.
“Ligação Directa” was the album of originals that followed. Published on October 23, 2006, it ended a 6-year interregnum during which the singer-songwriter had not produced new albums of originals. The album consists of 10 songs, all written by Sérgio Godinho, with the exception of “O big-one da Verdade”, whose music is by Hélder Gonçalves (of the Clã), and “O Ás da Negação”, whose music is by Nuno Rafael. Nuno Rafael was also responsible for the production and musical direction of the album, which also had the participation of Manuela Azevedo, Hélder Gonçalves, Joana Manuel, Tomás Pimentel, Nuno Cunha, Jorge Ribeiro and Jorge Teixeira as guest musicians.
He joined José Mário Branco and Fausto for the “Três Cantos Ao Vivo” concerts in 2009.
September 12, 2011 marked his return to original records, with “Mutual consent”. With the usual group of musicians who have accompanied him for several years (Os Assessores) he recorded 12 new songs, which resulted from his usual method of composition: “Look around and see what’s going on”.
In 2013, he recorded the album “Caríssimas canções” which resulted from a series of chronicles for the newspaper Expresso and which was also published in a book. Two thousand and fourteen was the year of “Liberdade ao vivo” and the book of short stories “Vidadupla” (Quetzal, 2014).
He joined Jorge Palma for a joint tour that also resulted in an album.
“Coração mais than perfect” (Quetzal, 2017) was the name of his first novel.
“What I do is try to tell things, talk about things, ask questions in my own way and know that there are people who are touched by this”, underlined the 66-year-old singer. These questions are “stories of an instant”, as he sings in one of the songs on the new album, and they can talk about love (“Intermittentmente”), as well as the situation of the country and the uncertainties of the present (“Access blocked”).
In 2018, at the age of 72, he returned with the album “Nação Valente”. The lyrics are all written by him, but in only two he is also the author of the music: the remaining compositions result from collaborations with José Mário Branco, Hélder Gonçalves, Nuno Rafael, Pedro da Silva Martins and Filipe Raposo.
