Are you born into fado? Or are you born to fado?... Sara Correia was born in Chelas in the early 90s, and, like any other person who grew up in a popular neighbourhood, fado was a daily balm for her little ears, a soundtrack of a normal and peaceful life that emerged in cafes or the open windows of the neighbourhood, in the voices of those who worked or in the radios of the cars that passed by. Fado started as, in fact, her home.
In 2023, Sara opened the doors of her home and celebrates her Freedom [Liberdade], counting, once again, on Diogo Clemente as producer, showing the deepest part of herself in a new album in which she gives voice to what her heart screams, in which she sings stories and places, emotions and dreams. Lives. Hers and those around her. “Chelas” is the first sign of a work that once again takes impetus from tradition and embraces the present, summoning the talent of Pedro Abrunhosa and Joana Espadinha, Carminho, Tiago Bettencourt or Carolina Deslandes who wrote for the voice of Sara Correia because they know her life story, because they have seen her in private and understand what she is passionate about.
To reach this present, however, Sara traveled a long path that, over time, opened to important chapters involving many trips and several achievements. But Sara remains humble: “I feel happy,” she says. “I feel happy and full of desire to continue moving forward, but I have not forgotten the steps that brought me here. I know where I come from,” she explains with disarming honesty.
Answering to the initial question, it is Sara Correia herself who recognizes that there is a big difference between singing fado and being a fado singer, adding that she became aware of this distinction very early on, “because of my family background and because I frequent fado houses”. “When I won the Grande Noite do Fado, I started to feel that fado was really part of me. And as for finding myself a fado singer, it was a long process for me to recognize that it has deep roots within me. It took me a while to realize the weight of responsibility that is giving voice to fado - that came from the saddest experiences. Fado became part of me with these most painful experiences that led me to sing. And not just in fado houses, because I spent my whole life singing – in my house, on the street, everywhere”.
Sara accumulated experience that began to gain more defined contours after this first achievement in the historically important Grande Noite do Fado, an event that revealed so many artists and that consecrated her when she was just 13 years, in 2006. This award opened her up to the doors of the select Casa de Linhares, a century-old place believed to have been frequented by Luís de Camões and whose walls echo great traditions. There, she listened with reverence to the “lessons” of Celeste Rodrigues, Jorge Fernando, or Maria da Nazaré and Cidália Moreira, among many others, capturing in this natural way the essence of a genre that has always been transmitted in this intimate and personal way. “I learned from all these people”, confirms Sara, “by being next to them, by being able to see how they gave themselves to fado, but also, and always, I learned to listen to recordings by Amália Rodrigues, Beatriz da Conceição and Fernando Maurício, my three great sources”, she reveals to us.
Time passed, and 2018 arrived, revealing itself to be a landmark date in the career of Sara Correia: it was in that year that she gave voice to the classic “Grito” by Amália Rodrigues for the soundtrack of the series “Une famille formidable” by French director Joel Santoni and which she played the role of the mythical Severa in the film “Alfama em Si” by Diogo Varela Silva.
But the most important thing that happened in that year was the release of her eponymous debut album, Sara Correia, a record that was released by Universal Music. The result of a fruitful creative partnership with Diogo Clemente, it featured the unique trill of the Portuguese guitar by Ângelo Freire, who Sara describes as “a genius of this generation,” and the widely recognized mastery of bassist Marino de Freitas, as well as valuable contributions from Vicky Marques on percussion and Ruben Alves on piano.
The applauded debut, in which Sara Correia sang the different nuances of fado, longing [saudade] and the Tagus river that bathes this Lisbon that she loves so much, won over the critics, who immediately recognized her as an important voice of a new generation, and earned her two nominations for the Play Awards – in the New Artist and Best Fado Album categories – in addition to the Revelation Award awarded by Rádio Festival. But, above all, the album opened the doors of the world for the first time, leading her to effusive applause on prestigious international stages – from Spain to South Korea, from Norway to Italy, from Austria to Reunion Islands and beyond.
The next stage, in 2020, took place with the release of Do Coração, a special album in which she departed from the foundations, from tradition, to embrace the present singing songs written by Joana Espadinha, Carolina Deslandes, Luísa Sobral or António Zambujo – with whom, in fact, she even sang in a duet. Diogo Clemente once again became her producer and creative accomplice. Diogo confirms that “Sara is a fado singer that only happens every few years,” elaborating later: “Being able to combine voice, power, interpretation, and an exquisite fado genetic code is very difficult.” Sara obviously demonstrated that she had all these qualities.
In 2021, Sara sang at the inaugural show of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union – which took place at the Centro Cultural de Belém – being accompanied by the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra directed by conductor Joana Carneiro and sharing the stage with great fado references such as Camané, Carminho and Ana Moura. Carlos do Carmo was also in spirit, whom Sara Correia paid tribute to in a heartfelt way.
Do Coração received even greater recognition and applause: it was awarded at the Play Awards with the award for “Best Fado Album.” The applause and praise from critics justified an expanded reissue entitled + Do Coração, with unreleased live recordings that make it clear that what she can do in the studio is directly equivalent to what she knows how to convey on stage. In parallel with this extremely well-received reissue, Sara also saw the video that documented her acclaimed appearance at the Festival Internacional Cervantino, one of the biggest musical events in Latin America, being made available on streaming platforms where she had the opportunity to give voice to Amália's classics such as “Alfama” or “Fado Português” in the year that marked the centenary of our Diva’s birth. A triumph.
This still pandemic year had much more: Sara added her voice to the tribute to Lusophony Meu Bairro, Minha Língua, created by Brazilian rapper Vinicius Terra, a piece in which Dino D'Santiago, Elza Soares and Linn da Quebrada also crossed paths, and which served to mark the reopening of the Portuguese Language Museum, in São Paulo, Brazil. This ambitious project also resulted in an eight-episode web series in which Sara had the opportunity to shed light on the neighbourhood that inspired her so much and continues to inspire her. A collaboration with the plastic artist Tony Cassanelli as part of the Lisboa Criola initiative – which resulted in a sculpture and a documentary – and a participation in the first Portuguese series, Glória, to be distributed by Netflix – a curious cameo that referenced the historic meeting between the American jazz saxophonist Don Byas and Amália Rodrigues – also marked her busy 2021 calendar.
It was, however, the relevant nomination for one of the most important awards that an artist like Sara Correia can aspire to that marked the year 2021 indelibly: the Latin Grammy recognized her enormous talent by adding Do Coração to the list of candidates for the award for Best Portuguese Roots Album and by inviting Sara to be a presenter at the ceremony that took place in Las Vegas, United States, in November of that same year.
“Quero é Viver”, an original song by António Variações written in 1983, returned to the world's lips almost four decades later when, at the start of 2022, its interpretation in the voice of Sara Correia served as the generic theme of the homonymous soap opera broadcast in prime time on TVI and which proved to be a tremendous audience success, further projecting the voice of the fado singer who became a presence on the trend lists of the main streaming platforms. That same year, she was called to the stage at the Play Awards to perform alongside Paulo Flores, a great reference in Angolan semba who won the Lusofonia Prize.
Also in 2022, and with the world watching the war in Ukraine with their heart in their hands, Pedro Abrunhosa called Sara Correia to participate in “Que o Amor te Salve na Noite Escura” on the solidarity concert Uma Voz pela Paz. At the invitation of Capicua and with Jimmy P, Phoenix RDC and Stereossauro for company, Sara also participated in one of the most creative projects of that year, the tribute to Sérgio Godinho, SG Gigante, which brought the celebrated singer-songwriter's repertoire to the grounds of hip hop modernity.
Arriving in 2023, Sara Correia gave voice to “Bocas do Mundo”, crossing another bridge by joining flamenco singer Israel Fernández. In this way, she launched a year that promises much more. “Chelas,” the first of the singles from the brand new album Liberdade, released in that year, paves the way for work that Sara guarantees is what she wanted to do at the moment: “I had all the time in the world to be in the studio, I talked a lot with Diogo about what I wanted to do, and he listened to me until the end.” Therefore, this is an album of affirmation in which Sara shows herself like never before. “That’s really me there,” she assures. About the song “Chelas,” she explains that it is almost like a film about her roots: “my grandmother’s house, my mother’s house, the neighbourhood where I played football. Seeing this turned into a song makes me very happy.” A happiness that we can feel in the voice of a fado singer that the world has already learned to applaud: Sara Correia.
But the path doesn't end. 2023 also brought Sara Correia's debut as a mentor on The Voice Portugal. First, she was a mentor on The Voice Gerações, then on The Voice Portugal, where she made a remarkable journey with performances that quickly became viral.
In 2024, the fado singer sold out four Coliseums, three in Lisbon on the 9th, 10th and 11th of March and one in Porto on the 22nd of March, becoming the first artist who, in her debut in these, which are the most emblematic and prestigious venues in the country, achieves this feat, in a clear sign that this will be Sara Correia's year.
