Lena d'Água

Lena d'Água
Lena d'Água in 2006
Background information
Birth name	Helena Maria de Jesus Águas
Born	(1956-06-16) 16 June 1956 Lisbon, Portugal
Genres	Pop rock jazz
Occupations	Singer songwriter
Years active	1976–present
Labels	CBS EMI Universal Music Valentim de Carvalho
Formerly of	Beatnicks Salada de Frutas

Helena Maria de Jesus Águas (born 16 June 1956), known professionally as Lena d'Água, is a Portuguese singer.

Biography

Lena d'Água was born in Lisbon. In 1973 she enrolled briefly in Sociology but, as the 25 April 1974, Carnation Revolution came to fruition, she left university and joined a theatre group, later majoring in Education.

In 1975, Lena d'Água married Ramiro Martins, the bass player of The Beatnicks. The couple had a daughter and, in May of the following year, she joined the band as lead singer, divorcing and leaving the project in 1978. Being the first woman in the country to lead a pop rock band, she became a sex symbol and a pop star; after singing with the Beatnicks and Salada de Frutas she pursued a solo career with her band Atlântida, whose first three solo albums were produced by England's Robin Geoffrey Cable.

She sang Billie Holiday and Elis Regina with Portuguese jazz musicians, with whom she would later record a live album singing Portuguese classics from the 70's and 80's at the Hot Clube in 2005. Her album Carrossel was recorded in 2013, with a rock and roll power trio called Rock and Roll Station, with whom she recovered her pop-rock hits from the 80s. Her latest album Desalmadamente was released in 2019 and brought her back to original songs, all composed by Pedro da Silva Martins.

In November 2024, Lena d’Água released her new album, Tropical Glaciar, featuring songs written by Pedro da Silva Martins, a celebrated songwriter known for his work with artists such as Ana Moura and António Zambujo, who used to be in the band Deolinda. The album explores ecological and environmental themes, reflecting Lena's rural lifestyle in Bombarral and her concern for issues like the ecological impact of agriculture and deforestation. Lena described the collaboration with Pedro as transformative, stating that his compositions seamlessly blend with her iconic hits from the 1980s, creating a cohesive sound for her live performances. The track "O Que Fomos e o Que Somos" was particularly emotional for Lena, who had to pause recording several times due to its intensity.

Personal life

Lena d'Água is the daughter of footballer José Águas, who played for Benfica and the Portuguese national team in the 1950s and 1960s. In 2011, d'Água wrote a book about her father, titled José Águas, o meu pai herói (lit. "José Águas, my hero father"). Her younger brother Rui also became a footballer and played for Benfica and Portugal in the 1980s and 1990s.

Lena d'Água was a heroin addict for about nine years. She became clean in 1998.

Discography

• 1978 – Ascenção e Queda (Petrus Castrus)
• 1979 – Qual é Coisa, Qual é ela?
• 1979 - "O Nosso Livro/Cantiga da Babá" (single)
• 1980 – Sem Açúcar (Salada de Frutas)
• 1981 – "Robot/Armagedom" (Salada de Frutas single)
• 1980 – "Vígaro cá, vígaro lá/Labirinto" (single)
• 1982 – Perto de ti
• 1983 – "Papalagui/Jardim Zoológico" (single)
• 1984 – Lusitânia
• 1986 – Terra Prometida
• 1987 – Aguaceiro
• 1989 – Tu Aqui
• 1992 – Ou Isto ou Aquilo
• 1993 – As Canções do Século
• 1996 – Demagogia (greatest hits)
• 1996 – O Melhor de Lena d'Água – Sempre Que o Amor Me Quiser (greatest hits)
• 2007 – Sempre – Live at Hot Clube de Portugal
• 2011 – Lena d'Agua & Banda Atlântida (Bandas Míticas compilation, 14)
• 2014 – Carrossel
• 2019 – Desalmadamente
• 2024 – Tropical Glaciar

External links

• Official blog (in Portuguese)