Dulce José Silva Pontes (; born 8 April 1969) is a Portuguese songwriter and singer who performs in many musical styles, including pop, folk, and classical music. She is usually defined as a world music artist. Her songs contributed to the 1990s revival of Portuguese urban

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

called

fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre that can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado wa ...

Biography

Pontes was born in 1969 in Montijo, a town in the District of Setúbal, near Lisbon. She trained as a pianist, and started a career in singing after entering a competition in her hometown at the age of 18. She soon became an actress on Portuguese

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

and

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

.Biography
listed on ''Portal do Fado'', (accessed December 22, 2014). In 1991, she won the national music festival with her song " Lusitana Paixão", (known in English as "Tell Me"), which led her to represent Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest. She finished 8th in the competition, which is to date the fourth-best finish for a Portuguese performer. Her interpretation of famous fado themes like "Lágrima" e "Estranha Forma de Vida", earned her in the press the name of "successor and heir to Amália Rodrigues". Dulce Pontes & Juan Carlos Cambas 2

Dulce Pontes started her career as a mainstream pop artist, but over the years she has evolved to become a world music singer. She blends traditional fado with contemporary styles and searches out new forms of musical expression. She introduced musical traditions of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

in her work, rediscovered many long forgotten popular tunes and found use for obsolete musical instruments. Her work is inspired and influenced not only by Iberian musical tradition, but also, African, Brazilian,

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

and Bulgarian sounds. She sings mostly in her native Portuguese. Dulce Pontes has collaborated with

Cesária Évora Cesária Évora GCIH (; 27 August 194117 December 2011), more commonly known as Cize, was a Cape Verdean singer-songwriter. She received a Grammy Award in 2004 for her album '' Voz d'Amor''. Nicknamed the "Barefoot Diva" for performing without ...

, Caetano Veloso, Marisa Monte,

Daniela Mercury Daniela Mercury (born Daniela Mercuri de Almeida on July 28, 1965) is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, dancer, producer, actress and television host. In her solo career, Mercury has sold over 20 million records worldwide and had 24 Top 10 single ...

, Carlos Núñez, the Chieftains, Kepa Junkera,

Eleftheria Arvanitaki Eleftheria Arvanitaki ( Greek: Ελευθερία Αρβανιτάκη) (born 17 October 1957 in Piraeus) is a Greek folk singer. She originates from the island of Icaria. Arvanitaki has worked with important musicians, such as Cesária Évora ...

George Dalaras George Dalaras ( Γιώργος Νταλάρας, 29 September 1949) is a Greek musician and singer. He is one of the most prominent figures of Greek musical culture. In October 2006, he was selected as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Ag ...

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fro ...

(''O Mar e Tu'', duet sung by Pontes in Portuguese and Bocelli in Neapolitan, for his 1999 album '' Sogno)'',

Joan Manuel Serrat Joan Manuel Serrat i Teresa (; born 27 December 1943) is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He is considered one of the most important figures of modern, popular music in both the Spanish and Catalan languages. Serrat's lyrical style ...

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Dav ...

Trilok Gurtu Trilok Gurtu (born 30 October 1951) is an Indian percussionist and composer whose work has blended the music of India with jazz fusion and world music. He has worked with Terje Rypdal, Gary Moore, John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, Joe Zawinul ...

, Christopher Tin for his albums '' Calling All Dawns'' (

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

awarded) (on the song ''Se É Pra Vir Que Venha'') and '' The Drop That Contained the Sea'' (on the song ''Passou o Verão'') and others. Her song "''Canção do Mar''" appeared on the soundtrack of Hollywood film ''

Primal Fear Primal Fear may refer to: * Primal Fear (band) Primal Fear is a German power metal band formed in 1997 by Ralf Scheepers (vocals, ex-Gamma Ray) and Mat Sinner (bass and vocals, Sinner). Sinner and Scheepers formed the band after Scheepers was ...

''. A 30-second piece of that same song serves as the theme to the NBC police drama '' Southland''. Her album ''Focus'' (2003) is the fruit of a collaboration with Italian composer

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classic ...

with whom she has also toured and performed live. She sang in prestigious concert halls like Carnegie Hall in New York and the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in London, among many other places worldwide. In June 2006, Pontes prepared her double LP ''O Coração Tem Três Portas'' (''The Heart Has Three Doors''). It was recorded live without an audience in Convent of the Order of Christ in Tomar and St Mary Church in Óbidos. According to the artist, it is "her most personal and intimate album." It includes Portuguese folk music, mostly fado". It was released in December 2006. Dulce Pontes with

José Carreras Josep Maria Carreras Coll (; born 5 December 1946), better known as José Carreras (, ), is a Spanish operatic tenor who is particularly known for his performances in the operas of Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini. Born in Barcelona, he made his de ...

in duet together, starred in the official opening of the international election of the

New 7 Wonders of the World The New 7 Wonders of the World was a campaign started in 2000 to choose Wonders of the World from a selection of 200 existing monuments. The popularity poll via free Web-based voting and small amounts of telephone voting was led by Canadian-Swiss ...

in 2007 with her theme "One World" (We are one). In 2009, Pontes released ''Momentos'', a career-spanning double disc collection that included previously unreleased tracks. Her versatility in music styles shows also in her performances of Latin-American

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

's of

Astor Piazzolla Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (, ; March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed '' nuevo tango'', incorporating elements f ...

(for example "Balada para un Loco" and "Maria de Buenos Aires" or " Volver" by Carlos Gardel).

Personal life

She is the mother of a son, José Gabriel, who was born on 23 January 2002 in Lisbon and a daughter, Maria José, who was born on 24 January 2009 in Amadora.

Discography

*''Lusitana'' (1992) *''Lágrimas'' (1993) (Tears) *''Brisa do Coração'' (1995) (Breeze of the heart) - album live recorded during a concert held May 6, 1995, in

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

. *''Caminhos'' (1996) (Paths) *''O Primeiro Canto'' (1999) (The first chant/song) *''Best Of'' (2003) *''Focus'' (2003) - with

collaboration. *''O Coração Tem Três Portas'' (2006) (The heart has three doors) - including a DVD, recorded live in a convent and church *''Momentos'' (2009) (Moments) *''Peregrinação'' (2017) *''Best Of (Deluxe)'' (2019) *''Perfil'' (2022)

References

External links

*
Dulce Pontes co-official website

Ondeia Música
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pontes, Dulces 1969 births Living people People from Montijo, Portugal 21st-century Portuguese women singers Spanish-language singers Galician-language singers Italian-language singers English-language singers from Portugal Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Portugal Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1991 Portuguese fado singers Golden Globes (Portugal) winners Folk-pop singers 20th-century Portuguese women singers