One of the greatest romantic singers in our country. Tony de Matos marked an era with his presence on stage and his sweet voice, a true crooner and a fado singer of choice.
Tony de Matos was born in Porto on September 28, 1924, and at the age of five he went with his mother to a theater company, walking from city to city and stepping on stages from a very early age. But his parents didn’t want this artistic life for him, making him take a barber course so he could pursue another profession. He then decides to travel to Lisbon and try to get into Emissora Nacional, failing twice before getting the desired admission in 1945.
At 23 years old he was already a professional, surprising everyone with his voice and arranging contracts with ease. He enchanted with the fado he sang, also turning to romantic songs that helped him become very popular, allied to the good figure he presented.
In 1950, he recorded the CD Cartas de Amor in Spain, which became a great success, starting to appear in some magazines, performing duets with great stars of the time. He is then convinced by the businessman Manigoni to spend a season in Brazil, a challenge he accepts and which goes very well, being very well liked by the public and having a great success with Rosinha dos Limões.
Tony de Matos starts traveling all over the world for shows and tours, passing through the islands of the Azores and Madeira, and through countries such as Spain, Italy, São Tomé, Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, Congo, Rhodesia, Goa, Lebanon , Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, among others.
In 1957, another trip back to Brazil, where he will stay for six years, opening the restaurant “O Fado” with his then wife in Copacabana in 1959. The artist is a regular presence on Brazilian stations such as TV Rio, TV Tupi, Rádio Nacional and Clube 36. Joaquim Pimental and António Rodrigues wrote, among others, the song “Vendaval”, one of their biggest hits, quickly broadcast on radio and television. He was one of the most beloved artists in the sister country, returning to Portugal in the mid-60s, starting to appear with some regularity in 1964.
Despite being immensely popular and being a star of films, TV and radio, he noticed a decrease in demand for his shows after 25 de Abril, so he decided to emigrate to the USA, where he established residence and stayed there for eight years. He returns to Portugal in the 1980s and begins to appear in magazine shows and television programs, having huge success in a concert he gave at the Coliseum, with the Portuguese public returning to his talent and growing in popularity.
The song Romantic was his last big hit, before his death on June 8, 1989 from cancer, being missed due to his very own timbre of voice and his presence on stage. His voice, alternating at times with a heavier breath, did not stop him from recording more than 70 albums and having more than 100 singles, an impressive number for the time.
