Carlos Eduardo Teixeira Mendes, known as Carlos Mendes, was born on May 23, 1947, in Lisbon, Portugal, and is a Portuguese architect, presenter, singer, composer, and actor. He began his career in 1963 as one of the founders of the group Sheiks. He left the group in 1967 to pursue a solo career, releasing a version of “Penina”. In 1968, he won the RTP Song Festival with “Verão”, and won again in 1972 with “Festa da Vida”. He later represented Portugal at Eurovision. In 1976, he helped found the independent record label Toma Lá Disco and released Amor Combate. His subsequent albums included Canções de Ex-Cravo e Malviver (1977), Chão do Vento (1984), Não Me Peças Mais Canções (1994), Vagabundo do Mar (1997), and Coração de Cantor (1999). He also composed music for films, theatre and television, receiving a Critics Association award for best theatre music in 1986. He continued performing internationally, including in Brazil, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, India and Macau. In 2018, he released A Festa Da Vida. Since 2018, he has presented the Portuguese Society of Authors’ program Autores, combining interviews with musical performances.
