Biography
1988–2001 with Ekhymosis
Juanes started the pop band Ekhymosis in 1988, and it released its self-produced debut album, Nino Gigante, the same year. The band released five studio albums during its career and shared the stage with acts including Alejandro Sanz, Aterciopelados, and Ricky Martin;however in Juanes' words, the band "couldn't get out of Colombia" and remained "very local and confined to the Colombian market. " Juanes disbanded the group in 1998 so that he could pursue a solo career.
2002–present solo career
"A Dios le pido" (2002)
The lead single from Un día normal.
"Fotografía" (2003)
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The follow-up, Un día normal (A Normal Day), also produced by Gustavo Santaolalla who signed him with his first solo album, was released in 2002 and was highly successful in Latin America. The album was certified gold in Colombia during its first day of sales and was certified platinum and multi-platinum in countries including Colombia, Mexico, and Spain. The album spent 92 weeks in the top ten of Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart, setting a new record,and spent a total of two years on the chart. The album was released after the eligibility deadlines for the 2002 Latin Grammy Awards, but the advance airdate for the lead single, "A Dios le pido" ("To God I Ask"), allowed it to be nominated for three awards and win Best Rock Song. "A Dios le Pido" topped the singles charts of twelve countries and spent 47 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks The album also featured "Fotografía" ("Photograph"), a duet with Portuguese Canadian pop singer Nelly Furtado about the isolation between lovers. Juanes later worked with Furtado on a remix of "Powerless (Say What You Want)", the lead single from her 2003 album Folklore, and on "Te busqué" ("I Looked for You"), a single from her 2006 album Loose. Juanes won the most awards at the 2003 Latin Grammy Awards, where he won each of the five awards for which he had been nominated, including Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Album of the Year.
Juanes performing on the 'Mi sangre' tour
At the 2005 Latin Grammy Awards, 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 Am Worthless Without Your Love"), Best Rock Solo Album for Mi sangre and Best Music Video for "Volverte a ver" ("To See You Again"). On December 9, 2005, Juanes performed "La camisa negra" at an international gala in Germany celebrating the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final Draw evening. In 2006, he recorded a duet of "The Shadow of Your Smile" with Tony Bennett for Bennett's Duets: an American Classic.
In June 2006, Juanes began a year-long sabbatical to spend time with his wife, model Karen Martínez, and their daughters Luna and Paloma. He was working on an album that was released on October 23, 2007. When asked about the possibility of recording an album in English, Juanes responded, "singing in Spanish is very important because it's the language in which I think and feel. I respect people that sing in English, but for now I'll keep my Spanish." Juanes planned to launch his own music label, named 4J, in October 2007, to be distributed by the Universal Music Group.He also was working on a new album, titled La vida... es un ratico (Life Is a Little Moment).
"La vida... es un ratico" was released on Oct 23, 2007 with the first single being "Me Enamora" (it makes me fall in love). The second single was "Gotas de Agua Dulce" (drops of sweet water), and the third single became the vallenato fusion of "Tres" (three).
In November 24, 2008, Juanes re-released the album as "La Vida Es Un Ratico En Vivo [Deluxe Edition][2 CD/DVD Combo]" The album aside the 14 original songs, contains two previously unreleased songs: "Falsas Palabras" (false words) and "Odio por amor" (hate for love) which is also the current single. This new re-edition also includes seven live versions of songs played during his U.S. La Vida Tour. As another bonus added, Juanes also included a duet of his song "Hoy Me Voy" (today I leave) with US singer Colbie Caillat. The DVD contains the music videos of the four singles of the cd as well as a few live video recordings of the US tour.
Notable public appearances
On December 11, 2007, Juanes performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway together with a variety of artists, which was broadcast live to over 100 countries.
On November 13, 2008, Juanes swept the Latin Grammys winning all five nominations. He also at the awards performed a melody of 'Me enamora' and his new single 'Odio por amor'.
On February 15, 2009, Juanes performed at the NBA All-Star Game Halftime Show. He dueted with John Legend singing the Spanish language lyrics to Legend's song 'If You're Out There'.
Activism
Juanes has said that: "these are your people, young people, people with families, and four or five of them are dying every day." Juanes established the Mi Sangre Foundation to help victims of anti-personnel mines In 2005, he was named by Time as one of the world's 100 most influential people. Juanes has supported current Colombian president Álvaro Uribe, stating that "with this new government of Álvaro Uribe my country seems in better shape." On November 15, 2005, he was honored at the annual benefit gala for 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.
Juanes performing for the European Parliament
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 was first singer to perform in the hemicycle where the European Parliament holds its plenary sessions.The Parliament gave a symbolic gift of €2.5 million to demine Colombia and to rehabilitate victims of the landmines. In honor of his work and his music, he was given an escopetarra (a decommissioned AK-47 converted into a guitar) by peace activist César López; he later sold it at a fundraiser in Beverly Hills for US$17,000.Juanes held a benefit concert on May 24, 2006 in conjunction with KLVE and Univision which raised roughly US$350,000 to care for injured children and provide prosthetics, wheelchairs, and land rehabilitation.
On July 19, 2006, French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres 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" for his work in social activism. In December 2006, work began on a recreational park for the rehabilitation of the handicapped named "Parque Juanes de la Paz" in Medellín.The 68,000-square-meter facility will cost COL$10.6 billion, financed in part by the government of Medellín, and is to be completed by May 2007.
Juanes is also an activist for his native Spanish language; he has stated many times that while he respects native Spanish-speaking artists who choose to sing in English (such as fellow Colombian singer Shakira), he himself will not sing in English in order to best express himself (since he thinks and feels in Spanish) and to promote the Spanish language. One exception was his duet with Tony Bennett for the song "The Shadow of your Smile." Also recently his new song "Odio por amor" includes one line in English: "It's Time To Change". He also sang a few lines of English during a duet performance with John Legend during the 2009 NBA All-Star Game.
On March 16, 2008, Juanes organized a free concert as a response to the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis.This concert took place on the Colombia-Venezuela border. This was a free event and gathered an audience of 300,000 people. It was broadcast by Colombian and Venezuelan television stations. A Yahoo-Telemundo partnership webcast the event. The concert featured the well-known artists: Miguel Bosé, Alejandro Sanz from Spain. Juan Luís Guerra from the Dominican Republic, Ricardo Montaner from Venezuela, Juan Fernando Velasco from Ecuador and Juanes and Carlos Vives from Colombia. The concert became a reality with the help of many private companies from Colombia and Venezuela. As an important remark concerning this event, Colombian president Álvaro Uribe had expressed days before the concert that he would attend the event. Juanes' manager replied that since it was an artistic event with no political affiliations they preferred the president not to be present. President Uribe replied in an official letter that he accepted Juanes' manager's suggestion.
2009 Peace Concert in Cuba
Juanes during the concert in Havana, Cuba.
"Going to Cuba is a symbol that it’s time to change people’s minds, an opportunity to tell the world that people have to change."
— Juanes
On August 5, 2009, it was announced that Juanes would hold his second "Peace Without Borders" concert in Havana's storied Plaza de la Revolución on September 20, 2009. The Cuban concert coincides with U.N. International Peace Day and could feature up to 12 artists from Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the United States. Cuban folk legend Silvio Rodriguez and local salsa stars Los Van Van will also be participating.
Juanes has received criticism on his potential concert by some in the Cuban-American/Cuban exile community in Miami who believe it will be seen as an act of support for the communist government of Cuba. Juanes expressed in an interview for Univision that he has no affiliation whatsoever to the Cuban government or their political views and that he sees this only as an artistic performance and nothing more.Willy Chirino, a Cuban American performer who has not been to Cuba in over 45 years, however came out in defense of the right of Juanes and others to sing in Cuba, a move also supported by Puerto Rican artist Olga Tañón. On August 14, 2009, Cuban National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcón's daughter, Margarita Alarcón, spoke of the controversy to CBS News, remarking that:
"The past 50 years of U.S.-Cuba relations makes the War of the Roses seem like child’s play ... embittered Cuban-Americans now direct their ire at Juanes and at those who want to join him for the concert in Havana. They hurl negative and insulting accusations at potential participants claiming that bringing their music to the Cuba public is equivalent to propping up a government with which they are at war. It seems that they want to limit the freedom of the Cuban people, censoring the type of music they can listen to."
On August 20, 2009, Juanes announced that he had considered canceling the peace concert citing "fears for his safety as well as his family", who reside with him in Miami on Key Biscayne. Such fears are contained in an August 15, 2009, police report, and are the result of threatening messages Juanes has received from those he describes as "a very small number of extremists." However, John Reilly, Juanes' New York-based spokesman, has stated that plans for the concert have not changed and that "the vast majority of communication Juanes is receiving from both fans on Twitter and everyday people he comes into contact with in Miami continues to be overwhelmingly supportive. The concert "Paz Sin Fronteras"(Peace Without Frontiers) was a total success. Juanes closed it along with other 15 Cuban and international artist and with more than one million people attending the concert."
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