Adriano Maria Correia Gomes de Oliveira, GCIH, ComL, or just Adriano (April 9, 1942 – October 16, 1982) was a Portuguese musician, born to a conservative

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

family in

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

. His family moved to Avintes after his birth. He went to

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...

to study at the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; , ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The university ...

, and eventually dropped out, albeit being involved in the student activism and Coimbra fado music. Adriano was part of a generation of composers and singers of political songs that used music and lyrics to fight against the '' Estado Novo'' dictatorial regime. For that, he became famous among the pro-democratic resistance and was persecuted by the political police,

PIDE The International and State Defense Police (; PIDE) was a Portuguese security agency that existed during the '' Estado Novo'' regime of António de Oliveira Salazar. Formally, the main roles of the PIDE were the border, immigration and emigrati ...

, for his anti-dictatorial actions. Adriano was a personal friend of musicians

Zeca Afonso Zeca may refer to: * José Afonso (1929–1987), Portuguese folk and political musician also known mononymously as Zeca * Zeca (footballer, born 1946), full name Jose Luiz Ferreira Rodrigues, Brazilian football manager known mononymously as Zeca ...

, Padre Fanhais,

Sérgio Godinho Sérgio de Barros Godinho (; born 31 August 1945) is a Portuguese singer-songwriter, composer, actor, poet and author. Considered one of the most influential popular musicians in Portugal, Godinho started his music career singing folk songs of ...

, and Luísa Basto, with whom he collaborated in the recording of many albums. His first recording, ''Fado de Coimbra'', was released in 1963, accompanied by António Portugal and Rui Pato. In this record he performs the first rendition of ''Trova do Vento Que Passa'', with poetry by

Manuel Alegre Manuel Alegre de Melo Duarte (born 12 May 1936) is a Portuguese poet and politician. He was a candidate to the presidency of the Portuguese Republic in 2006 and 2011, finishing in second place in both elections. For his literary work, he was awa ...

, which would become a sort of anthem of resistance to the dictatorship. In 1967 he recorded the album ''Adriano Correia de Oliveira'' with, among other songs, "Canção com Lágrimas". During his military service in 1969, ''O Canto e as Armas'', with poetry by Manuel Alegre, was released followed in 1970 by ''Cantaremos'' and ''Gente de Aqui e de Agora'' in 1971. After the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution (), code-named Operation Historic Turn (), also known as the 25 April (), was a military coup by military officers that overthrew the Estado Novo government on 25 April 1974 in Portugal. The coup produced major socia ...

, the single "Que Nunca Mais" with poems by Manuel da Fonseca was released. The record, directed and produced by Fausto Bordalo Dias, includes a rare participation of guitarist Carlos Paredes. That year, he was nominated artist of the year by '' Musicweek''. Adriano was also a member of the

Portuguese Communist Party The Portuguese Communist Party (, , PCP) is a Communism, communist and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist List of political parties in Portugal, political party in Portugal. It is one of the strongest List of communist parties, communist par ...

and participated many times in the

Avante! Festival The ''Avante!'' Festival () is an annual cultural festival held during the first weekend of September. It was started in 1976 by the Portuguese Communist Party and is named after the party's official newspaper, '' Avante!'' After taking part i ...

annual fest. He was a close friend of the

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, who wrote many of his lyrics. He died in Avintes at the age of 40 due to a vascular accident.

Albums

*1967 – "Adriano Correia de Oliveira" *1969 – ''O canto e as armas'' **E de súbito um sino **Raiz **E a carne se fez verbo **E o bosque se fez barco **Peregrinação **A batalha de Alcácer-Quibir **Regresso **Canção da fronteira **Por aquele caminho **Canto da nossa tristeza **Trova do vento que passa N.2 **As mãos **Post-scriptum *1970 – ''Cantaremos'' **Cantar de emigração **Saudade pedra e espada **Fala do homem nascido **O Sol p'rguntou à Lua **Canção para o meu amor não se perder no mercado da concorrência **Lágrima de preta **Canção com lágrimas **Cantar para um pastor **Como hei-de amar serenamente **Sapateia **A noite dos poetas *1971 – ''Gente de aqui e de agora'' **Emigração **E alegre se fez triste **O senhor morgado **Cana verde **A vila de Alvito **Canção tão simples **Cantiga de amigo **Para Rosalia **Roseira brava **História do quadrilheiro Manuel Domingos Louzeiro *1975 – ''Que nunca mais'' **Tejo que levas as águas **O senhor gerente **As balas **No vale escuro **Tu e eu meu amor **Recado a Helena **Dona Abastança **Cantiga de Montemaior **P'ra a frente *1980 – ''Cantigas Portuguesas''

References

1942 births 1982 deaths People from Vila Nova de Gaia Portuguese Communist Party politicians Portuguese anti-fascists 20th-century Portuguese male singers University of Coimbra alumni Portuguese political music artists {{Portugal-singer-stub