Jorge Manuel de Abreu Palma (born 4 June 1950) is a Portuguese singer and songwriter. A well-known and acclaimed songwriter in Portugal, Palma started his solo career in 1972 and was a busker in several cities abroad before settling back in Portugal in 1982. He achieved success in the late 1980s with songs such as "Deixa-me Rir" and "Frágil", and renewed success in 2007, with the single "Encosta-te a Mim".
Palma has additionally been a member of the bands Sindicato, Rio Grande, Cabeças no Ar, and his rock project Palma's Gang.
Early life
Jorge Palma was born in Lisbon on 4 June 1950. At the age of 6, Palma learned to play the piano and to read. When he was 8 years old, he performed his first piano audition in the Portuguese National Conservatory.
In 1963, aged 13, Palma finished second in a musical contest in Mallorca, Spain. At the same time, he continued his studies, first at the Camões Secondary School and after at the Colégio Infante de Sagres in Abrantes. The following year, 1964, marks a turning point in Palma's musical preferences, in which he start leaving his classical influences and dedicates himself to pop-rock music.
Musical career
1967–1972: Career beginnings and Sindicato
During the Summer of 1967, in Algarve, Palma joined the band Black Boys as a keyboard player. In the following Summer, in 1968, he joins the band Jets also as keyboard player. He also played with the bands Extravaganza and Beatnicks.
In 1969, Palma joined the rock band Sindicato, while studying Electrical Engineering in the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Lisbon. With Sindicato, he played in the first edition of the Vilar de Mouros Festival, in 1971. Sindicato released one single and a covers album, before disbanding in 1972. In that same year, Palma also dropped out of his university studies.
In February 1975, Palma participated in the 12th edition of the Festival da Canção with two songs: "O Pecado Capital" (with Fernando Girão) and "Viagem". The songs finished in 7th and 8th places. and it won several prizes from the Portuguese press. He released his seventh album, Quarto Minguante, also that year.
Three years after, in 1989, Palma released his eighth album, Bairro do Amor. The album was critically acclaimed and includes some of his most well-known songs, such as "Frágil" and the title-song "Bairro do Amor".
Palma finished his piano studies in 1990. After his final exam, he was proposed by Tozé Brito, who worked for Polygram at the time, to record an album of rearrangements of his songs with only piano and voice. Palma liked the idea and recorded some of most iconic songs played with a Steinway piano at the Valentim de Carvalho studios. The album was named Só and released in 1991. It was critically acclaimed and, in 2014, was considered one of the best Portuguese albums of all-time by music magazine Blitz.
1992–2001: Palma's Gang and Rio Grande
After Só, Palma decided to go back to guitar-oriented rock and formed the band Palma's Gang, with members of the bands Xutos & Pontapés and Rádio Macau. The band released a live album in 1993, titled Palma's Gang: Ao Vivo no Johnny Guitar, which also explored Palma's repertoire but this time with a hard-rock sound. During the following year, Palma performed in several stages across Portugal, solo or with Palma's Gang.
Personal life
Jorge Palma has two children, Vicente (born 1983) and Francisco (born 1996). In November 2008, Palma married Rita Tomé, his current wife, in Las Vegas.
Discography
Studio albums
- Com Uma Viagem Na Palma da Mão (1975)
- Té Já (1977)
- Qualquer Coisa Pá Música (1979)
- Acto Contínuo (1982)
- Asas e Penas (1984)
- O Lado Errado da Noite (1985)
- Quarto Minguante (1986)
- Bairro do Amor (1989)
- Só (1991)
- Jorge Palma (2001)
- Norte (2004)
- Voo Nocturno (2007)
- Com Todo o Respeito (2011)
- Vida (2023)
Live albums
- Palma's Gang: Ao Vivo no Johnny Guitar (with Palma's Gang) (1993)
- No Tempo dos Assassinos (2002)
- Voo Nocturno Ao Vivo (2008)
- Juntos – Ao vivo no Theatro Circo (with Sérgio Godinho) (2015)
- Só ao vivo (2017)
- 70 Voltas ao Sol – Ao vivo no Castelo de S. Jorge (2021)
Compilation albums
- Deixa-me Rir (1996)
- O Melhor dos Melhores (1998)
- Clássicos da Renascença (2000)
- Dá-me Lume: O Melhor de Jorge Palma (2000)
- Estrela do Mar (2004)
- A Arte e a Música de Jorge Palma (2004)
- Grandes Êxitos (2013)
- Grandes Êxitos Vol. 2 (2015)
Singles
- "The Nine Billion Names Of God" (1972)
- "A Última Canção" (1973)
- "Pecado Capital" (with Fernando Girão) (1975)
- "Viagem" (1975)
- "Deixa-me Rir" (1985)
- "Dormia Tão Sossegada" (2001)
- "Encosta-te A Mim" (2007)
- "Página em Branco" (2011)
Honours
- 80px Commander of the Order of Prince Henry (17 November 2020)