Roberto Leal | |||||||||
Birth Name: | António Joaquim Fernandes | ||||||||
Birth Date: | 27 November 1951 | ||||||||
Birth Place: | Macedo de Cavaleiros
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Death Place: | São Paulo
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Children: | 3 | ||||||||
Years Active: | 1971–2019 | ||||||||
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António Joaquim Fernandes (27 November 1951 – 15 September 2019), known as Roberto Leal, was a Portuguese singer, songwriter and actor. He sold more than 15 million albums, and received 30 golden records and 5 platinum records.[1]
Leal was born in Macedo de Cavaleiros municipality, Bragança District, in northeast Portugal. In 1962 his family moved to Brazil.[2]
Roberto Leal wrote and produced most of his songs. Some of Leal's best known songs are: Bate o Pé, Clareou, O Vinho de Meu Amor, and Marrabenta. In 2007 and 2010 he released albums in both Portuguese and Mirandese.[3] [4] Leal had a dynamic vocal range and was a great dancer.
In 2013, Leal performed at the first annual International Portuguese Music Awards where he was also presented with the IPMA Lifetime Achievement Award. [5]
Leal had a wife Márcia Lúcia and three children.[6]
In January 2019, Leal stated he had been fighting cancer for the past two years and had lost part of his sight due to two cataracts.[7]
Roberto Leal died at age 67 on 15 September 2019 of kidney failure, following complications from an allergic reaction during his fight against cancer. He had been in hospital for five days in the semi-intensive unit of the Samaritano Hospital de São Paulo.[8]