Rui Veloso Concerts Setlist

Rui Manuel Gaudêncio Veloso is a Portuguese singer and songwriter. He was born on July 30, 1957 in Lisbon, Portugal. Veloso was born into a family with political influence: his father was the first democratically elected major of Porto after the fall of the authoritarian Estado Novo regime in 1977. He learnt to play the harmonica at age 6, and learnt to play the guitar at age 15. His first choice of genre was blues, with artists like Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan having early influences on his music.

At age 22, he signed with the Portuguese record label Valentim de Carvalho. They hired the backup band "A Banda Sonara" for him, and his debut album came out in July 1980, a rock record with the title "Ar de Rock" (meaning "Air of Rock" in English). It became a massive hit, and also had a huge influence on Portuguese culture as a whole. It kicked off a rock boom in the country in the 1980's. The most popular songs on the Rui Veloso setlist at the time were "Chico Fininho" and "Rapariguinha do Shopping".

Veloso has put out a total of 10 studio albums during his long career. The best selling one of them is "Mingos & Os Samurais" released in August 1990, which sold 280,000 copies. Meanwhile, the most recent new Rui Veloso album came out in November 2012, with the title "Rui Veloso e Amigos" ("Rui Veloso and Friends").

The Portuguese rock legend's biggest hits to date are the aforementioned "Chico Fininho" (1980), "Não Há Estrelas No Céu" (1990), and "Nunca Me Esqueci de Ti" (2003). He was also featured on the 2016 hit single by fellow Portuguese singer Bezegol "Maria". For his great influence on Portuguese rock music, Rui Veloso is often called "The Father of Portuguese Rock". However, he never forgot his blues roots either. Many live shows by American blues legend B. B. King were opened by a Rui Veloso concert in Portugal over the years.