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Juanes info

Skrevet av Alf Egil Soma

Juanes was born Juan Esteban Aristizabal in Medellin, Colombia.

At the age of seven, Juanes learns to play guitar from his father and older brothers. He falls in love with the instrument and immerses himself in learning the traditional Latin sounds of boleros, tangos, cumbias, and Colombian folk music such as vallenatto and guasca. From then on, a guitar is rarely out of arms reach – even when he had to spend time scouting pawnshops for guitars he could afford. Today, those days of scrounging for guitars are behind him, as his natural talent for the instrument has led to Juanes being the only Latin artist signed for sponsorship by FENDER.

Over his years in Colombia, Juanes experienced firsthand the grief that comes with personal loss from violence, as kidnappers executed his cousin (even after ransom had been paid) and a close friend was killed by gunmen in a nightclub. His grief was further compounded when he lost his father to cancer.

At the age of fourteen (as many teenage boys do), Juanes discovers Metal music – specifically Metallica As a result, he quickly adapts his guitar playing to match his new favorite band, and he becomes a founding member of Colombian rock/metal band Ekhymosis.

Over the course of 11 years, Ekhymosis makes seven albums and become local favorites throughout Colombia. Eventually, having outgrown the desire to just play metal, Juanes decides to depart/disband the group.

In both critical respect and commercial success, he has quickly become the leading music artist in the Spanish speaking world - with the The Los Angeles Times declaring that: “[Juanes] has emerged as the single most important figure on the Latin music scene”. Both an electrifying guitarist and socially conscious songwriter that critics are putting alongside artists such as Bono and Bruce Springsteen, Juanes confronts the violence of his native Colombia’s continued conflict, while pointing to the love of family and respect of countrymen as the way to rise above the fray. Millions of fans have adopted the songs of this poetic rocker as virtual anthems for Latino pride, prayers for peace, and the strength of true love.

Juanes’ landmark second album Un Dia Normal (“A Normal Day”) was the #1 Spanish-language album of 2003 in both sales and airplay, and holds the record for the longest Top-10 chart run of any Latin album in history. The album’s success lead Juanes to top six separate Billboard Year-end Latin charts, including #1 album, #1 singles artist, and #1 songwriter, and resulted in his selection for the cover of Billboard’s “Year In Music” special issue. Un Dia Normal spent two years (104 weeks) on the chart and produced five hit singles. The album lead Juanes to a sweep of the 2003 Latin Grammy telecast (winning all five awards for which he was nominated: “Album Of The Year” - “Record of the Year” - “Song of the Year” - “Best Rock Solo Album” & “Best Rock Song”), and brought his career total to an impressive NINE Latin Grammy Awards. He also was the top winner at Univision’s Premio Lo Nuestro Awards and garnered MTV Latin America’s “Artist of the Year” & “Best Rock Artist” awards. The tour in support of Un Dia Normal saw Juanes perform over 200 critically acclaimed concert dates throughout the world, including a date setting the attendance record at Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center.

Fall 2004 saw Juanes “remain in his own upper echelon” with the September 28th release of his eagerly awaited third album-the socially and emotionally relevant Mi Sangre (“My Blood”). Mi Sangre not only debuted at #1 throughout the Spanish speaking world (quickly reaching multi-platinum status in numerous countries), but also finds Juanes continuing his Latin radio airplay dominance with all three singles from the record thus far claiming the #1 spot on Billboard’s “Hot Latin Tracks” chart. In fact, first single “Nada Valgo Sin Tu Amor” (“I Am Worthless Without Your Love”) not only notched an impressive 3 month (12 weeks) run at #1 in America, it was also the most played song at radio in Latin America for all of 2004. Of course, this continued success has lead media throughout the world to take note, highlighted by Arts cover profiles of Juanes in both The New York Times and The Washington Post, and most recently, his selection by TIME as “one of the 100 most influential people in the world.” Currently, Juanes is in the midst of the “MI SANGRE TOUR”, which will find him performing over 200 shows around the world. This includes critically acclaimed concerts that filled both New York’s famed Madison Square Garden and Miami’s American Airlines Arena.

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