1990s–2009: Early life and career beginnings edit

Aurea was born in Santiago do Cacém, Alentejo, and grew up in Silves, Algarve. Since she was a child, she realized she wanted to be a singer or actress and she participated in many plays at school. Aurea went to Évora's university, where she studied performing arts.^[4] In 2008, Aurea met Rui Ribeiro at the university, who heard her singing. He helped her to release her first single in 2008 through Blim Records, "Okay Alright". The song was included on the soundtrack of the Portuguese soap opera Morangos com Açúcar. In the summer of 2008, she performed the song live at the Morangomania Festival, a show created by the production team of Morangos com Açúcar.^[5] In early 2009, Rui Ribeiro composed a song for Aurea and asked if she would like to sing it. They recorded a demo for it and Ribeiro sent it to Blim Records, her future record label. They enjoyed her voice and decided to "go far with it!", by recording an album.^{[citation needed]}

2009–present: Career breakthrough and Aurea edit

In summer 2010, Aurea said to "Expressões Lusitanas" during an interview: "I think singing in English is better than singing in Portuguese (...) because Soul music was "born" through English words".^{[citation needed]} She also said she feels influenced by Soul artists such as Aretha Franklin, Joss Stone, James Morrison and Amy Winehouse (like Joss Stone, she frequently performs barefoot). Aurea released a single in August 2010, entitled "Busy for Me", a blue-eyed soul ballad influenced by artists such as Aretha Franklin and Amy Winehouse. The song received positive reviews from music critics. Aurea performed her songs on a TV Special broadcast among many other shows on Portuguese television.

A music video for the single, which was directed by Ricardo Reis, was released on 6 August 2010. Aurea was released in September 2010. Rui Ribeiro was responsible for the composition of nine of the original songs from the album, as well as all the original lyrics. It is a pop/soul recording but with many influences of many different musical styles. As with Aurea herself, this work is musically eclectic. The album was produced by Ricardo Ferreira and Rui Ribeiro.^[4] The album entered at number 21 on the Portuguese Albums Chart, but quickly reached number 1.^[2] "Busy for Me" was chosen as the album's lead single.

Studio albums

• Aurea (2010)
• Soul Notes (2012)
• Restart (2016)
• Confessions (2018)
• Moods (2023)

Live albums

• Ao Vivo no Coliseu dos Recreios (2011)

Singles

• "Okay Alright" (2008)
• "Busy for Me" (2010)
• "No No No No (I Don't Want Fall In Love With You Baby)" (2011)
• "The Only Thing That I Wanted " (2011)
• "Where Is The Love" (ft. Nikolas Takács)
• "Scratch My Back" (2012)
• "Nothing Left to Say" (2013)
• "How Far Would You Go" (2013)
• "I Didn't Mean It" (2016)
• "A Impostora" (2016)
• "I Feel Love Inside" (ft. Enoque) (2017)
• "Done With You" (2018)
• "Thrill Seeker" (2018)
• "Hide" (2018)
• "Head Over Heels" (2018)
• Frágil (2021)
• Why? (2022)

Studio albums edit

Singles edit

• Blim Records website