Mr. Lopes has been performing vocally for most of his life. As a child and teen he sang in school choirs, musicals and had private voice training in his teens. He started singing professionally when he joined his first band at age 21. From that point he sang in various bands throughout CA. By age 25 he studied percussion instruments. Notably, Conga and Bongos. At 31, he learned to play drums.His instructors included LA’s Murray Spivak and CSFU’s Brian Callahan. His most notable performances were:

"If you missed the third set on Saturday Night, you missed something worth hearing, in which vocalist Cliff Lopes made his first Coffeehouse appearance. Lopes, a baritone, is an impressive singer whose phrasing is reminiscient of Al Jarreau.
He glided through a lovely version of Leon Russell's "This Masquerade" and Jarreau's lyrics to Chick Corea's Spain", which is a very complex vocal piece."