Juanes
Juanes |
|---|
Juanes, (real name Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez, born August 9, 1972), is a Colombian rock singer-songwriter-guitarist born in Medellín. When he was younger, his father started calling him Juanes, rather than Juan, a contraction of his first and middle names Juan and Esteban. As his friends grew to know him by this name, he chose to keep it for his musical career, which started when he, Andrés García, Fernando "Toby" Tobón and José David Lopera, formed the rock band Ekhymosis.
Career
His politically-minded solo debut Fíjate Bien ("Take a good look") (2000) after Ekhymosis disbanded, earned him three Latin Grammys: Best New Artist, Best Rock Solo Vocal Album and Best Rock Song. The follow-up, Un Día Normal ("A Normal Day") produced by Gustavo Santaolalla (2002), was a platinum mega-hit in Latin America and dominated that year's Latin Grammys, where he was nominated for and won five awards including Song of the Year and Album of the Year. It featured "Fotografía" ("Photograph"), a duet with Portuguese-Canadian singer Nelly Furtado about the isolation between lovers. He is also featured in Nelly Furtado's 2006 CD Loose in the "Te Busqué" single (in both English and Spanish versions). His latest album, Mi Sangre ("My Blood") was released in September 2004 and debuted at #1 on the Latin Billboard Charts. Mi Sangre produced three consecutive #1 singles, that held the top chart position for a combined 6 months. The album also continued Juanes' Latin Grammy streak as he was once again the top winner at the 2005 broadcast-bringing his career total to twelve Latin Grammy Awards. He recently began a year-long sabbatical during which he will compose songs and spend time with his family (wife and model Karen Martinez, daughters Luna and Paloma) in Medellin. He hopes to release his next album in September 2007.
One of the songs off his most recent album Mi Sangre is called "La Camisa Negra" ("The Black Shirt") and was a huge hit. Some reports suggest that the song was used as a symbol of neo-fascism in Europe, specifically Italy, when taken by a few fans to refer to Benito Mussolini's Italian fascist organization nicknamed the "Black Shirts". However this is not true, as originally intended by Juanes himself, the song is about mourning over the end of a relationship, and the black shirt is a sign of mourning or bad feelings. In the lyrics, he sings, "Respiré de ese humo amargo de tu adiós y desde que tú te fuiste yo sólo tengo la camisa negra". This translates to "I breathed that bitter smoke of your goodbye and since you left I just have the black shirt".
In the 2005 Latin Grammys, Juanes won three additional awards to his nine previous Grammy awards. He took the award for Best Rock Song for "Nada Valgo Sin Tu Amor" ("I'm Worth Nothing Without Your Love"), Best Rock Solo Album for Mi Sangre and Best Music Video for "Volverte a Ver" ("To See You Again").
Juanes, who expresses both political and romantic themes in his songs, was named by Time Magazine as one of the world's 100 most influential people. In the song "Sueños", he expresses hope of living in peace in war torn Colombia. Juanes fully supports the current Colombian president Alvaro Uribe. He has also been honored by Sir Paul McCartney's Adopt-A-Minefield for his work as a Goodwill Ambassador for United for Colombia, a non-profit organization that raises awareness about the impact of land mines within Colombia.
He also performed at the 2005 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which took place just a few months before Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city.
On December 9, 2005, Juanes was the top musical act of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany Final Draw evening, performing "La Camisa Negra", his most successful song in Europe.
Juanes has sold an estimated 6 million records worldwide, becoming one of the few Colombians who have sold over 1 million records. Carlos Vives was the first Colombian male artist to sell more than a million records and has sold around 2 million records, and Shakira is the highest selling Colombian artist of all time.
On April 19 2006, Juanes performed before the European Parliament, as part of a campaign to increase awareness against the use of land mines around the world, including in his native Colombia. He is reportedly the first musician to perform in the Parliament's auditorium (which is the meeting auditorium, not a performance auditorium).
On July 19 2006, the French Culture Minister, Renaud Donnedie, awarded Juanes with the highest cultural honor given by France, L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, declaring him "Knight in the order of Arts and Letters".
Discography
Albums
Singles
- From Fíjate Bien:
- 2001 – Fíjate Bien
- 2001 – Podemos Hacernos Daño
- 2001 – Nada
- From Un Día Normal:
- 2002 – A Dios le Pido (re-released in 2006 in Europe)
- 2002 – Es Por Ti
- 2003 – Mala Gente
- 2003 – Fotografía [featuring Nelly Furtado]
- 2004 – La Paga [featuring The Black Eyed Peas]
- 2004 – Un Día Normal (Promotional single)
- From Mi Sangre:
- 2004 – Nada Valgo Sin Tu Amor
- 2005 – Volverte a Ver
- 2005 – La Camisa Negra
- 2005 – Para Tu Amor
- 2006 – Lo Que Me Gusta A Mi
- 2006 – Rosario Tijeras
Collaborations
- 2004 – Powerless (Say What You Want) (Spanish version) on Nelly Furtado's Força
- 2006 – Te Busqué on Nelly Furtado's Loose
- 2006 - The Shadow Of Your Smile on Tony Bennett's Duets: An American Classic
- 2006 - Il mio canto libero on Laura Pausini's Io Canto
- 2006 - Mi Libre Canción on Laura Pausini's Yo Canto
- 2006 - A tu lado on Antonio Carmona's Vengo venenoso
DVDs
- 2003 – El Diario de Juanes ("The Diary of Juanes")
- 2005 – Ekhymosis - CD+DVD
- 2005 – Mi sangre - Tour Edition CD+Dvd
- 2006 – Tony Bennett - An American classic (includes their duet Shadow of your smile)