Juanes Biography

Juanes, (born on August 9, 1972), born Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez, is a Colombian singer-songwriter-guitarist born in Medellín. When Juanes was younger, his father started calling him Juanes, rather than Juan, a contraction of his two first names Juan and Esteban. As Juanes' friends got to know him with 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.

Biography

Juanes's 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 songlark Nelly Furtado about the isolation between lovers. His latest album, "Mi Sangre" ("My Blood") was released in September 2004 and debuted at #1 on the Latin Billboard Charts.

One of the new songs off his most recent album "Mi Sangre" is called "La Camisa Negra" ("The Black Shirt") and has been a huge hit. Some reports suggest that the song has recently been used as a symbol of neo-fascism in Europe, specifically Italy, when taken by a few fans to refer to 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 tu te fuiste yo solo 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, he had 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 ("See You Again").

Juanes was named by Time Magazine as one of the world's 100 most influential people. Juanes has also been honored by 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. His nickname was also given to him by a close Ecuadorian friend also by the name of Juan Esteban. While growing up together they both retained the nickname Juanes.

On December 9, 2005, he was the top musical act of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany Final Draw evening, performing "La Camisa Negra", which is his most successful song in Europe.

Juanes is currently completing his world wide "Mi Sangre" tour.

Juanes sold an estimated 4.8 million records worldwide, becoming one of the few Colombians who have sold over 1 million records. Carlos Vives, was the first Colombian male artist selling more than a million records, and has sold around 2 million records (Shakira is the highest selling Colombian artist of all time, selling an estimated 46 million albums).

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 world, including in his native Colombia. He is reportedly the first musician to perform in the Parliament's auditorium.