National Mourning Day in Portugal – 4th of January

INL associates to the National Mourning Day declared this Monday, 4th of January 2021, by the Government of Portugal, one of the INL member-states, for the passing away of Carlos do Carmo, one of the most distinguished voices in the country, and a renowned Fado singer.

For the Portuguese musicologist Rui Vieira Nery, “after Amália Rodrigues, Carlos do Carmo was the most powerful renewing force of Fado”, the national singing style.

Carlos do Carmo always shown profound respect for the Portuguese language in conjunction with a clear and beautiful voice, that he kept until 2019, the year he decided to say goodbye to the stages. 

In 2014 he added the “Career Latino Grammy” to his long list of awards celebrating a lifetime of cultural achievement. But the most significant one was perhaps when UNESCO declared Fado to be “Intangible World Heritage”, in 2011, culminating his personal efforts within the application for this important distinction.

One of the best ways to remind him is by listening to “Lisboa Menina e Moça”, a hymn of love to the capital city of Portugal, where he was born in 1939.

 Carlos do Carmo died on the 1st of January 2021, at the age of 81 years old.