Jorge Palma, one of the most influential singer-songwriters in contemporary Portuguese music, died on Monday at the age of 76, his family announced in a message on social media.
"It is with deep sorrow and consternation that Jorge Palma's family and agency announce his death, which occurred on Monday night, at the age of 76, following a cardiorespiratory arrest", the musician's family said.
In what they described as a moment of "incalculable pain", his wife, Rita Tomé, his sons, Vicente and Francisco Palma, and his agents, André Sebastião and Tiago Branco, asked that Jorge Palma be remembered through what best defined him: his songs and his words. The family also thanked the messages and gestures of friendship received over the years.
The family also recalled that over a 54-year career Jorge Palma "leaves behind a remarkable body of work that forms part of the history" of Portuguese music, as well as "many friends around the world, people he won over with his generosity and brilliance".
Born in Lisbon in 1950, Jorge Palma entered the world of music at an early age and went on to become one of the defining singer-songwriters of contemporary Portuguese music. He began lessons at the age of six and, four years later, enrolled at the Lisbon Music Conservatory.
But at 14 he decided to give up classical music in order to devote himself to pop-rock, beginning a path that would go on to span several generations.
Before embarking on a solo career, he played with the bands Sindicato, which took part in the first edition of the Vilar de Mouros Festival in 1971, and Black Boys. At the same time, he began working in areas such as composition, orchestration and recording.
In 1972, when he was just 22, he released his first solo single, "The Nine Billion Names of God". Shortly afterwards, he was called up for military service but chose to leave Portugal and settle in Denmark.
It was only in 1974, after the 25 April Revolution, that he returned to Portugal, began working as an orchestrator and, the following year, released his first album, "Como uma viagem na palma da mão".
Over the course of his career he released a further 13 albums of original material. For Jorge Palma, each album served as a portrait of a particular phase of his life. In an interview with Lusa in 2022, he explained that the people he related to, the places where he lived, his everyday life, what he listened to and what he read all ended up leaving different marks on each record.
In the 1980s he resumed his piano studies at the conservatory, which he completed in 1990. The following year came "Só", a project in which he revisited, accompanied only by the piano, songs from his albums of the previous two decades, which became the first compilation of his career.
The 1990s broadened his horizons. Jorge Palma formed Palma's Gang alongside Zé Pedro and Kalu, from Xutos & Pontapés, and Flak and Alex Cortez, from Rádio Macau. He wrote for theatre and for other artists and joined the Rio Grande project. After a decade of multiple ventures, he returned to albums of original material with "É proibido fumar" in 2001.
This was followed by "Norte" (2004), "Voo nocturno" (2007) and "Com todo o respeito" (2011). His most recent, and final, album, "Vida", was released in 2023.
Over the years his work was recognised with several awards. In 2002 he received the José Afonso Prize for the album "Jorge Palma". Ten years later he won the first edition of the Pedro Osório Prize, awarded by the Portuguese Society of Authors, with "Com todo o respeito".
In 2020, at the end of a concert marking his 70th birthday, he was honoured by Lisbon City Council with the medal of cultural merit. That same year he was made a Commander of the Order of Infante D. Henrique by the then President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
In April this year, Jorge Palma received the Career Award at the 8th PLAY - Portuguese Music Awards, granted by decision of the board of Audiogest, the body that represents and manages the rights of multinational, national and independent record labels.
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