Rodrigo Costa Leão Muñoz Miguez (born 15 October 1964), known professionally as Rodrigo Leão, is a Portuguese

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

. He became known in the 1980s as a member of the Portuguese groups Sétima Legião and

Madredeus Madredeus () are a Portuguese musical ensemble formed in 1985, in Lisbon. Their music combines traditional Portuguese music, fado and folk music. Madredeus are one of the most successful music groups from Portugal, having sold over 3 million alb ...

. In the 1990s, Leão launched his career as a solo artist, with multiple albums reaching number-one in the Portuguese album charts.

Music career

In 1982, Leão was one of the founding members of Sétima Legião, one of the most successful bands in Portugal's 1980s rock scene. In 1985, he started

with

Pedro Ayres Magalhães Pedro Aires Ferreira de Almeida Gonçalves Magalhães (born 31 July 1959), known as Pedro Ayres Magalhães, is a Portuguese musician, best known as a founding member and the main songwriter of the musical group Madredeus. Magalhães has also be ...

and Sétima Legião's Gabriel Gomes as a sideline acoustic project. Madredeus received national and international acclaim and became one of Portugal's most successful music groups internationally. In 1993, Rodrigo released a mostly instrumental solo album in a neo-classical, minimalist mode, titled ''Ave Mundi Luminar''. In 1994, with Sétima Legião on a long break, he left Madredeus to dedicate himself to his solo career. He has experimented with modern classical music and contemporary pop, joining electronics with string and horn sections. With the project Os Poetas, he composed music for poems from some of Portugal's greatest poets. Over the years Leão has worked with various singers and musicians. Singers who have participated in Leão's music include

Beth Gibbons Beth Gibbons (born 4 January 1965) is an English singer and songwriter. She is the singer and lyricist for the band Portishead, which has released three albums. She released an album with Rustin Man, '' Out of Season'', in 2002, followed by an ...

( Portishead),

Neil Hannon Edward Neil Anthony Hannon (born 7 November 1970) is a Northern Irish singer and songwriter. He is the creator and front man of the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy, and is the band's sole constant member. Hannon wrote the theme tunes for ...

(

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature an ...

), Stuart Staples (

Tindersticks Tindersticks are an English alternative rock band formed in Nottingham in 1991. They released six albums before singer Stuart A. Staples embarked on a solo career. The band reunited briefly in 2006 and more permanently the following year. Th ...

Joan Wasser Joan Wasser (born July 26, 1970) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and producer who releases music as Joan As Police Woman. She began her career playing violin with the Dambuilders and played with Black Beetle, Antony and the Johnsons, ...

(

Joan as Policewoman Joan Wasser (born July 26, 1970) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and producer who releases music as Joan As Police Woman. She began her career playing violin with the Dambuilders and played with Black Beetle, Antony and the Johnsons, ...

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, Sónia Tavares ( The Gift),

Lula Pena Lula Pena (born May 15, 1974) is a Portuguese fado singer, composer and poet from Lisbon, Portugal. Biography As well as fado ("phado" as she prefers), Pena's music is strongly influenced by a range of other types of music, including chanson, ...

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and Thiago Petit. Leão has also performed with

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto i ...

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. Leão's music is also present in film and series soundtracks, including

Lee Daniels Lee Daniels (born December 24, 1959) is an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter. His first producer credit was ''Monster's Ball'' (2001), for which Halle Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress, making Daniels ...

’ Oscar-nominated historical drama ''

The Butler ''The Butler'' (full title ''Lee Daniels' The Butler'') is a 2013 American historical drama film directed and co-produced by Lee Daniels and with a screenplay by Danny Strong. It is inspired by Wil Haygood's ''Washington Post'' article "A But ...

'' (which won him an

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

award) and the TV documentary series ''Portugal – A Social Portrait'' by António Barreto. He has also composed the soundtracks for the mobile education apps Art Legacy and for the award-winning history app Back in Time.

Discography

With Sétima Legião

*'' A Um Deus Desconhecido'' (1984) *'' Mar d'Outubro'' (1987) *''De um Tempo Ausente'' (1989) *''O Fogo'' (1992) *''Auto de Fé'' (Live) (1994) *''Sexto Sentido'' (1999)

With Madredeus

*''

Os Dias da MadreDeus ''Os Dias da MadreDeus'' (English: "The days of MadreDeus") is the debut studio album by Portuguese group Madredeus. It was released in December 1987 by EMI-Valentim de Carvalho. Recording ''Os Dias da MadreDeus'' was recorded between 28 and 30 ...

'' (1987) *''

Existir ''Existir'' (English: "To exist") is the second studio album by Portuguese group Madredeus. It was released on 12 May 1990 through EMI-Valentim de Carvalho. Style The music in ''Existir'' uses the same instrumentation as its predecessor, with c ...

'' (1990) *''Lisboa'' (1992) *'' O Espírito da Paz'' (1994) *'' Ainda'' (1995)

With Os Poetas

*''Entre Nós e as Palavras'' (1997)

Solo albums

*''Ave Mundi Luminar'' (1993) *''Mysterium'' (EP) (1995) *''Theatrum'' (1996) *''Alma Mater'' (2000) *''Pasión'' (Live) (2001) *''Cinema'' (2004) *''O Mundo'' (compilation with new material) (2006) *''Portugal, um Retrato Social'' (soundtrack album) (2007) *''A Mãe'' (2009) *''In Memoriam'' (2010) (extra CD from Ave Mundi Luminar new edition) *''A Montanha Mágica'' (2011) *''Songs'' (compilation with new material) (2012) *''The Butler'' (soundtrack album) (2013) *''O Espírito De Um País'' (Ao Vivo Na Assembleia Da República) (2014) *''Florestas Submersas'' (2015) *''A Vida Secreta das Máquinas'' (2015) *''O Retiro'' (with Orquestra e Coro Gulbenkian) (2015) *''Life Is Long'' (with Scott Matthew) (2016) *''100 metros'' (soundtrack album) (2017) *''O Aniversário'' (compilation) (2018)

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leao, Rodrigo 1964 births Living people People from Lisbon Portuguese musicians Portuguese male musicians