Carvalho co-founded the band The Sheiks in 1965. He sang and played the drums. He also played an instrumental role, either as a founder or a guest, of many other important Portuguese bands of the 1960s, among them Fluido, Banda 4 and Thilo's Combo. The Sheiks was Portugal's answer to
The Beatles. During the 1960s Portugal was ruled by an authoritarian dictatorship. This band came as a result of the climate in Portugal and captured the national mood. The people wanted the brightness of the Beatles sound and the Sheiks provided. The band sang songs such as Summertime, Missing You and Tell Me Bird. Though the band eventually broke up and Carvalho moved into contemporary Fado, the Sheiks have regrouped and performed in recent years. In 1974, as a solo performer, Carvalho won the
Festival RTP da Canção with the song "", which allowed him to in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1974 "" was used as the passcode at the beginning of the coup which toppled Portugal's dictatorship (in what has become known as the
Carnation Revolution), giving Carvalho a permanent place in his country's history. In 1977, as part of
Os Amigos, he won again the Festival RTP da Canção with the song "", and represented Portugal in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1977. Later that year, as a solo artist, he
represented Portugal in the
OTI Festival 1977 with the song "". During the 1970s and early 1980s, Carvalho won many international performance awards in Bulgaria, Poland and Belgium and was a strong participant in other music festivals in Chile, Argentina and Spain. In 1985, Carvalho began professionally associating himself with Fado, deferring to Portugal's traditional music as globalization came to be seen as a threat to his homeland's cultural heritage;
Desculpem qualquer coisinha was his first record following this shift, and (though controversial) remains his most commercially successful venture. Many of Carvalho's songs were written by
José Nisa,
José Calvário and
Ary dos Santos as well as a poem by
Alda Lara ("
Mãe Negra"). He has worked with
Fernando Tordo,
Tozé Brito,
Carlos Mendes and
Os Amigos and performed duets with Brito, Tordo and
Dulce Pontes, among others. Several greatest hits albums have been released. Some of his best known songs are: • "
E Depois do Adeus" (1974 Eurovision Song Contest) • "Flor sem Tempo" • "Lisboa Menina e Moça" • "
Mãe Negra" • "Os Meninos do Huambo" • "Maria Vida Fria" • "Nini" • "Olá como estás?" (duet with Tozé Brito) • "Pomba Branca" (duet with
Dulce Pontes) • "Domingo na praia" ==Personal life==