Alejandro Sanz
Encyclopedia
Alejandro Sanz is a Spanish
singer-songwriter
and musician. For his work, Sanz has won a total of fifteen Latin Grammy Awards
and three Grammy Awards. He has won the Latin Grammy for Album of the Year
three times, more than any other artist. He has released a total of nine studio albums and six DVDs.
Born in Madrid
, Sanz began playing guitar at age seven, taking influence from his parents' flamenco
roots. He released his debut album
at age sixteen, although he did not gain commercial success until his second release, Viviendo Deprisa
. His next two records, Si Tu Me Miras
and 3 also fared well commercially, but it was his 1997 breakthrough album Más
that garnered international success. El Alma al Aire
followed in 2000, selling more than a million copies in its first week.
In 2002, he became the first Spanish artist to record an MTV Unplugged
album. His collaboration with Shakira
on the single "La Tortura
" became a number one hit on several charts. His albums No Es Lo Mismo
(2003) and El Tren de los Momentos
(2006) showed Sanz experimenting with more diverse styles of music, while his most recent release, Paraíso Express
(2009) served as a return to form for the musician. He signed to Universal Music Group
in 2011 and is reported to be working on his tenth studio album.
, Spain
, on December 18, 1968, the youngest son of María Pizarro and Jesús Sánchez. He grew up in the relatively high-crime neighborhood of Moratalaz
in eastern Madrid. Sanz recalled "Back then, kids grew up on the street...I was a bit like the group troubadour; the one who played the guitar and sang. That kept me out of a lot of trouble." Sanz's father, a door-to-door book salesman, played guitar
professionally, which inspired seven-year-old Sanz to learn to play the instrument. He pursued the instrument with an intensity that eventually frustrated his mother, who broke his guitar one morning after his playing kept the family from sleeping.
He was exposed to traditional flamenco
music as a child while vacationing each summer in his parents' native Andalucía in southern Spain. Originally, Sanz intended to become a flamenco performer, but he found the music teachers to be overly strict. Commenting on his early experiences, Sanz explained, "Flamenco can be very hard on beginners. If you lose the rhythm, they toss you out with, 'You're no good, boy!' They're very strict and very cruel. But it's also a marvelous education, because you either learn to play or else." He felt that he could not compete with his peers, and decided to focus on creating pop music
with flamenco influences, viewing flamenco to be a "lifestyle" better suited to others.
. Arenas helped Sanz find work, eventually leading to a record deal with the Spanish label Hispavox. In 1989, sixteen-year-old Sanz released his debut album, Los Chulos Son Pa' Cuidarlos
under the name of Alejandro Magno (Spanish for "Alexander the Great"). The record, which fused techno and flamenco, was met with critical and commercial indifference, and today Sanz views the record to be "insignificant". However, the album is now considered to be a collector's item. In an attempt to promote Chulos, he performed at strip clubs
, playing short sets between acts. This was generally unsuccessful and Sanz took a break from music, choosing to study business administration. He also took a job at a recording studio in which he wrote material for other artists. He persuaded Arenas to send demos of his songs to record companies, which led to being signed by Warner Music Latina
. At this time, he began performing under his current name.
Sanz's rise to fame began in 1991, when he released his first album from Warner, Viviendo Deprisa
. The record and the songs "Pisando Fuerte" and "Se le Apago la Luz" helped him gain a dedicated fan base in Spain. In 1993, he released Si Tu Me Miras
shortly followed by a live album, titled Básico
. That same year, he recorded a song with flamenco pioneer Paco de Lucía
, whom Sanz idolized as a child. He released his third studio album, 3 in 1995. He also released 3 in Italian
and Portuguese
in addition to Spanish
. "La Fuerza Del Corazon", the first single released from 3, was his first song to chart internationally. All three albums proved to be successful, reaching multi-platinum status in Spain.
, Italy
to work on a follow-up for 3. For the album, he wished to create "true fusion" of many different sounds, and began studying the saxophone
and piano
in addition to guitar. In 1997, Sanz released Más
, which sold more than two million copies in Spain. Sanz received one Amigo Award (best national male artist), the Ondas Award (best national artist), and was granted several Spanish Music Awards, as Best National Artist, Best Composer, Best Album for Más, and Best Single and Best Video for "Corazón Partío". One year after the release of Más, Sanz was granted another Amigo Award in the category of Special Tribute, and received a new Ondas Award for Best Song for "Corazón Partío".
In 1999 Sanz was named Best Selling Spanish Artist at the World Music Awards. He was awarded a Gold Recording and a Platinum Recording in the USA and launched a DVD which sold more than 500,000 copies in Spain. "Corazón Partío", the third single taken from this album, became an international hit, topping charts in 18 countries. For 67 weeks, it was the best-selling album in Spain, where Sanz gave 56 concerts (four of them at Madrid's Las Ventas Bullring). He also started a tour through Latin America and received his second Platinum Europe Award in Brussels
, presented by former President of the European Community Romano Prodi
, after having sold 2 million copies of Más in Europe. The album has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide to date.
featured Sanz exploring diverse genres of music, including jazz
, R&B, soul
and tango
. In Spain, the album sold more than one million copies in the first week. It was nominated in the category of "Best Latin Pop Album" in the 43rd edition of the Grammy Awards; and it swept the 2nd edition of the Latin Grammy Awards, being granted four awards: Recording of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year. In 2001, El Alma Al Aire was released in a special edition including Sanz's duets with Irish band The Corrs
. In October 2001, Sanz collaborated with Michael Jackson
and various other artists on the Spanish version of the charity single "What More Can I Give
", which benefited the victims of the September 11 attacks.
In 2002, Sanz recorded MTV Unplugged
at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts
in Miami, Florida
. He was the first Spanish artist to record and release an MTV Unplugged album. For Sanz, the recording of the album "changed the way I do my music. It was a rediscovery of how to perform, and also how to record, music with live musicians. That was the spirit of the music in its pure form, though [it is ironic] that the more people who are playing, the more simple it is."
With the album, he garnered three Latin Grammy Awards (Album of the Year, Recording of the Year and Song of the Year for "Y Sólo Se Me Ocurre Amarte"). Sanz After having sold more than 250,000 copies of his MTV Unplugged album in the USA and after having the No. 1 in the "Top Latin Albums" Billboard chart, Sanz returned to touring with four shows in the USA in June 2002. Alejandro Sanz was also awarded 3 Spanish Music Awards (Best Song for "Y Sólo Se Me Ocurre Amarte," Best Album for MTV Unplugged and Best Video for "El Alma Al Aire"), the Luna Award (México) for Best International Ballad and the Gardel Award (Argentina) for the Best Male Artist and the Album of the Year for MTV Unplugged.
. On this record, Sanz took a more political approach than he had on previous releases. "Sandy a Orilla Do Mundo" discusses oil spills on the Spanish coast, while "Labana" tells the story of people fleeing from Cuba
on makeshift rafts. The album won four awards at the 2004 Latin Grammy Awards
, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year. Sanz was unable to attend the event and his awards were accepted by presenters and colleagues. Also in 2004, he became the first Spanish musician to give a lecture at Harvard University
, speaking about Hispanic culture at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
.
on her song "La Tortura
". Co-written by Sanz, the song became an international hit, breaking the record for the most weeks at the number one spot on the Hot Latin Songs chart. The song exposed Sanz to a more diverse audience, and helped build anticipation for his next release. The first single from the album El Tren de los Momentos
, "A la primera persona
", became his first song to enter the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 100 on the chart. The record was also noted for its guest appearances, which featured Shakira, Juanes
, Alex González
of Maná
, and Residente of Calle 13
.
In the spring of 2007, Sanz suffered a mental breakdown and was forced to take two months off in the middle of a world tour. The breakdown was caused by several events in his personal life, including the death of his father in 2005, his separation Mexican model and actress Jaydy Mitchel, and his announcement that he had a three-year-old son outside of his marriage with Mitchel. He commented on the situation, saying "You have to put things in perspective. It was stress, something that had never affected me, but this time, yes, it did. So I had to pay. A doctor told me to stop for a couple of months to recuperate completely." Sanz spent time in therapy, a time which "helped [him] a lot" and gave him "more power" to perform.
In a press conference in late 2007, he criticized Venezuelan
president Hugo Chavez
, calling him "undemocratic" in the wake of a petition made by Venezuelan citizens to prevent Chavez from running for re-election. Sanz further stated "If they gave me 3 million signatures to stop singing, I would stop singing immediately." Supporters of Chavez subsequently gathered 230,000 signatures in response to Sanz' comments.
, Sanz created a campaign in which fans could create a video about their definition of paradise and upload it to his YouTube
channel. Artists such as Shakira, Laura Pausini
and Paulina Rubio
also participated. On 10 November 2009, Sanz released Paraíso Express. This record was described as a return to form for Sanz, focusing more on melody as opposed to the experimentation he pursued on his previous two albums. He commented "On this album, I first composed the melody and then the lyrics. It is more of a rock album than my past releases, with more elegant and positive lyrics and a happier and more rhythmic spirit." The bilingual single "Looking for Paradise
" featuring Alicia Keys
reached number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart. At the 2010 Latin Grammy Awards, the album was nominated Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal, while the single "Desde Cuándo
" received both Record and Song of the Year nominations.
On 15 February 2011, Sanz announced that he would be signing with Universal Music Group
after twenty years with Warner.
groups such as Iron Maiden
and Dio
, referring to himself as a "heavy metal radical".
Early in his career, his music generally consisted of romantic ballads
. However, in the late 1990s, his collaborations with other artists greatly expanded his musical style. On No Es Lo Mismo, he experimented with rock
, salsa
, and hip hop
. El Tren de los Momentos continued this pattern, featuring diverse genres such as funk, jazz
, and country
. Despite this, Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic described his musical evolution by saying "Even as Sanz broadened his style over the years, he never ventured far from his strength: romantic songs, generally ballads, tinged with flamenco and sung wholeheartedly with his distinct voice."
in Bali
on December 30, 1999, but this marriage was never legally recognized in either of their home countries. Sanz felt that having a legally recognized marriage was unnecessary: "My wife is my wife and I am her husband. For me, that has enough validity...I am married with the heart." The couple divorced in 2005. Their daughter, Manuela Sánchez Michel, was born in 2001. Sanz later had a son named Alexander with Valeria Rivera, a Puerto Rican
fashion designer.
Sanz welcomed his third child in New York
, a boy named Dylan (b. July 2011), the first child from his relationship with girlfriend and former assistant, Raquel Perera. Taking into account Sanz's influence of flamenco
in his life he chose virtuoso flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía
to be the godfather
to his son. Alejandro and Raquel are godparents to David Bisbal
's daughter, Ella.
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and musician. For his work, Sanz has won a total of fifteen Latin Grammy Awards
Latin Grammy Awards
A Latin Grammy Award is an accolade by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. Unlike the regular Grammy Award which primarily honors music produced in the United States, the Latin Grammy honors works produced anywhere around the...
and three Grammy Awards. He has won the Latin Grammy for Album of the Year
Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year
The Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists in the United States and internationally...
three times, more than any other artist. He has released a total of nine studio albums and six DVDs.
Born in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Sanz began playing guitar at age seven, taking influence from his parents' flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
roots. He released his debut album
Los Chulos Son Pa' Cuidarlos
Los Chulos Son Pa' Cuidarlos is the first album recorded by Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz known at the time as Alejandro Magno with the Label Hispavox. The album offers a "Flamenco-Techno" style of music...
at age sixteen, although he did not gain commercial success until his second release, Viviendo Deprisa
Viviendo Deprisa
Viviendo Deprisa is the debut album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz . With this album he was announced to national level, all the tracks were composed by Sanz but were credited to A. Medina pseudonymous that Sanz used initially in his career...
. His next two records, Si Tu Me Miras
Si Tú Me Miras
si tú me miras is the second album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz, where he counted with the inestimable collaboration of musicians as Paco de Lucía and Nacho Mañó...
and 3 also fared well commercially, but it was his 1997 breakthrough album Más
Más (album)
Más is the fourth studio album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz.- Track listing :- Re-Release :Más is the re-release of the album Más containing a CD and DVD...
that garnered international success. El Alma al Aire
El Alma Al Aire
El Alma al Aire is the fifth studio album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz in which he gives us interpretations that come from the soul, melodies in which it seems that the voice breaks. It is one of his more suggestive and emotive works...
followed in 2000, selling more than a million copies in its first week.
In 2002, he became the first Spanish artist to record an MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged (Alejandro Sanz album)
MTV Unplugged is the second live album from Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz, which turns him into the first Spanish artist in recording an Unplugged for MTV, and in this opportunity he resorts to Humberto Gatica's talent as producer and arranger...
album. His collaboration with Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
on the single "La Tortura
La Tortura
"" is a Latin pop-reggaeton song performed by singers Shakira and Alejandro Sanz. It was recorded for Shakira's sixth studio album , released on June 7, 2005...
" became a number one hit on several charts. His albums No Es Lo Mismo
No Es Lo Mismo
No Es Lo Mismo: Edición Especial Gira is the 2004 re-release of the album No Es Lo Mismo containing a CD and DVD. The CD contains 5 new tracks and the DVD contains 11 videos.- CD :# No Es lo Mismo - 6:04# Hoy Llueve, Hoy Duele - 4:52...
(2003) and El Tren de los Momentos
El Tren de los Momentos
El Tren de los Momentos is the seventh studio album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz, which counts with the collaborations of Juanes, Antonio Carmona , Shakira and Calle 13...
(2006) showed Sanz experimenting with more diverse styles of music, while his most recent release, Paraíso Express
Paraíso Express
Paraíso Express is the eighth studio album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz. It was produced by Tommy Torres, mixed by Bob Clearmountain, and was released worldwide in late November 2009. This album is the follow-up to the Grammy Award winning album El Tren de los Momentos...
(2009) served as a return to form for the musician. He signed to Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
in 2011 and is reported to be working on his tenth studio album.
Early life
Sanz was born in MadridMadrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, on December 18, 1968, the youngest son of María Pizarro and Jesús Sánchez. He grew up in the relatively high-crime neighborhood of Moratalaz
Moratalaz
Moratalaz is a district of Madrid, Spain. It is a well known area because musicians such as Melendi and Alejandro Sanz have lived there. Moratalaz is on east of municipality of Madrid, it has 634.42 km² of surface area and is delineated by the highways of M-30 to the west, M-40 to the east, M23 to...
in eastern Madrid. Sanz recalled "Back then, kids grew up on the street...I was a bit like the group troubadour; the one who played the guitar and sang. That kept me out of a lot of trouble." Sanz's father, a door-to-door book salesman, played guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
professionally, which inspired seven-year-old Sanz to learn to play the instrument. He pursued the instrument with an intensity that eventually frustrated his mother, who broke his guitar one morning after his playing kept the family from sleeping.
He was exposed to traditional flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
music as a child while vacationing each summer in his parents' native Andalucía in southern Spain. Originally, Sanz intended to become a flamenco performer, but he found the music teachers to be overly strict. Commenting on his early experiences, Sanz explained, "Flamenco can be very hard on beginners. If you lose the rhythm, they toss you out with, 'You're no good, boy!' They're very strict and very cruel. But it's also a marvelous education, because you either learn to play or else." He felt that he could not compete with his peers, and decided to focus on creating pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
with flamenco influences, viewing flamenco to be a "lifestyle" better suited to others.
1989-96: First four albums
As a teenager, Sanz performed in various venues in his hometown. He became acquainted with Miguel Angel Arenas, a music industry executive who had signed several popular Spanish groups such as MecanoMecano
Mecano was a Spanish pop band whose debut coincided with La Movida Madrileña , a sociocultural movement that occurred in Madrid, Spain during the 1980s...
. Arenas helped Sanz find work, eventually leading to a record deal with the Spanish label Hispavox. In 1989, sixteen-year-old Sanz released his debut album, Los Chulos Son Pa' Cuidarlos
Los Chulos Son Pa' Cuidarlos
Los Chulos Son Pa' Cuidarlos is the first album recorded by Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz known at the time as Alejandro Magno with the Label Hispavox. The album offers a "Flamenco-Techno" style of music...
under the name of Alejandro Magno (Spanish for "Alexander the Great"). The record, which fused techno and flamenco, was met with critical and commercial indifference, and today Sanz views the record to be "insignificant". However, the album is now considered to be a collector's item. In an attempt to promote Chulos, he performed at strip clubs
Strip club
A strip club is an adult entertainment venue in which striptease or other erotic or exotic dance is regularly performed. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, but can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style....
, playing short sets between acts. This was generally unsuccessful and Sanz took a break from music, choosing to study business administration. He also took a job at a recording studio in which he wrote material for other artists. He persuaded Arenas to send demos of his songs to record companies, which led to being signed by Warner Music Latina
Warner Music Latina
Warner Music Latina is a record label part of Warner Music Group that focuses on Latin music.-List of artists on Warner Music Latina:*Ahora*Airbag*Alejandro Sanz*Alex Ubago*Andres Calamaro*Bacilos*Banda Machos*Basse*Buika*Calo*Canteca De Macao...
. At this time, he began performing under his current name.
Sanz's rise to fame began in 1991, when he released his first album from Warner, Viviendo Deprisa
Viviendo Deprisa
Viviendo Deprisa is the debut album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz . With this album he was announced to national level, all the tracks were composed by Sanz but were credited to A. Medina pseudonymous that Sanz used initially in his career...
. The record and the songs "Pisando Fuerte" and "Se le Apago la Luz" helped him gain a dedicated fan base in Spain. In 1993, he released Si Tu Me Miras
Si Tú Me Miras
si tú me miras is the second album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz, where he counted with the inestimable collaboration of musicians as Paco de Lucía and Nacho Mañó...
shortly followed by a live album, titled Básico
Basicò
Basicò is a comune in the Province of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about 150 km east of Palermo and about 45 km southwest of Messina. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 730 and an area of 12.0 km²....
. That same year, he recorded a song with flamenco pioneer Paco de Lucía
Paco de Lucía
Paco de Lucía, born Francisco Sánchez Gómez , is a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist and composer. He is considered by many to be one of the finest guitarists in the world and the greatest guitarist of the flamenco genre...
, whom Sanz idolized as a child. He released his third studio album, 3 in 1995. He also released 3 in Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
in addition to Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. "La Fuerza Del Corazon", the first single released from 3, was his first song to chart internationally. All three albums proved to be successful, reaching multi-platinum status in Spain.
1997-99: Más
Sanz spent two years in MilanMilan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to work on a follow-up for 3. For the album, he wished to create "true fusion" of many different sounds, and began studying the saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
and piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
in addition to guitar. In 1997, Sanz released Más
Más (album)
Más is the fourth studio album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz.- Track listing :- Re-Release :Más is the re-release of the album Más containing a CD and DVD...
, which sold more than two million copies in Spain. Sanz received one Amigo Award (best national male artist), the Ondas Award (best national artist), and was granted several Spanish Music Awards, as Best National Artist, Best Composer, Best Album for Más, and Best Single and Best Video for "Corazón Partío". One year after the release of Más, Sanz was granted another Amigo Award in the category of Special Tribute, and received a new Ondas Award for Best Song for "Corazón Partío".
In 1999 Sanz was named Best Selling Spanish Artist at the World Music Awards. He was awarded a Gold Recording and a Platinum Recording in the USA and launched a DVD which sold more than 500,000 copies in Spain. "Corazón Partío", the third single taken from this album, became an international hit, topping charts in 18 countries. For 67 weeks, it was the best-selling album in Spain, where Sanz gave 56 concerts (four of them at Madrid's Las Ventas Bullring). He also started a tour through Latin America and received his second Platinum Europe Award in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, presented by former President of the European Community Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi is an Italian politician and statesman. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy, from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008...
, after having sold 2 million copies of Más in Europe. The album has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide to date.
2000-02: El Alma Al Aire, MTV Unplugged
His album El Alma al AireEl Alma Al Aire
El Alma al Aire is the fifth studio album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz in which he gives us interpretations that come from the soul, melodies in which it seems that the voice breaks. It is one of his more suggestive and emotive works...
featured Sanz exploring diverse genres of music, including jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, R&B, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and tango
Tango
Tango in its most general sense refers to:*Tango , a social dance form including Argentine, Uruguayan, and international ballroom tango*Tango music, a genre of music that originated in Argentina and Uruguay...
. In Spain, the album sold more than one million copies in the first week. It was nominated in the category of "Best Latin Pop Album" in the 43rd edition of the Grammy Awards; and it swept the 2nd edition of the Latin Grammy Awards, being granted four awards: Recording of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year. In 2001, El Alma Al Aire was released in a special edition including Sanz's duets with Irish band The Corrs
The Corrs
The Corrs are an Irish band which combine pop rock with traditional Celtic folk music. The brother and sisters are from Dundalk, Ireland. The group consists of the Corr siblings: Andrea ; Sharon ; Caroline ; and Jim .The Corrs came to international prominence with their performance at the...
. In October 2001, Sanz collaborated with Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
and various other artists on the Spanish version of the charity single "What More Can I Give
What More Can I Give
"What More Can I Give" is a song written by American musician Michael Jackson and recorded by a supergroup of singers following the September 11 attacks in 2001. The inspiration for the song had initially come to Jackson after a meeting with the President of South Africa Nelson Mandela in the late...
", which benefited the victims of the September 11 attacks.
In 2002, Sanz recorded MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged (Alejandro Sanz album)
MTV Unplugged is the second live album from Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz, which turns him into the first Spanish artist in recording an Unplugged for MTV, and in this opportunity he resorts to Humberto Gatica's talent as producer and arranger...
at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts
Olympia Theater and Office Building
The Olympia Theater and Office Building is a historic theater in Miami, Florida. It is located at 174 East Flagler Street. The original architect was theatre designer John Eberson, in his 'atmospheric' style, and extensive renovations in the 1970s were overseen by architect Morris Lapidus.On...
in Miami, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. He was the first Spanish artist to record and release an MTV Unplugged album. For Sanz, the recording of the album "changed the way I do my music. It was a rediscovery of how to perform, and also how to record, music with live musicians. That was the spirit of the music in its pure form, though [it is ironic] that the more people who are playing, the more simple it is."
With the album, he garnered three Latin Grammy Awards (Album of the Year, Recording of the Year and Song of the Year for "Y Sólo Se Me Ocurre Amarte"). Sanz After having sold more than 250,000 copies of his MTV Unplugged album in the USA and after having the No. 1 in the "Top Latin Albums" Billboard chart, Sanz returned to touring with four shows in the USA in June 2002. Alejandro Sanz was also awarded 3 Spanish Music Awards (Best Song for "Y Sólo Se Me Ocurre Amarte," Best Album for MTV Unplugged and Best Video for "El Alma Al Aire"), the Luna Award (México) for Best International Ballad and the Gardel Award (Argentina) for the Best Male Artist and the Album of the Year for MTV Unplugged.
2003-05: No Es Lo Mismo
On September 2, 2003, Sanz released his sixth studio album, No Es Lo MismoNo Es Lo Mismo
No Es Lo Mismo: Edición Especial Gira is the 2004 re-release of the album No Es Lo Mismo containing a CD and DVD. The CD contains 5 new tracks and the DVD contains 11 videos.- CD :# No Es lo Mismo - 6:04# Hoy Llueve, Hoy Duele - 4:52...
. On this record, Sanz took a more political approach than he had on previous releases. "Sandy a Orilla Do Mundo" discusses oil spills on the Spanish coast, while "Labana" tells the story of people fleeing from Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
on makeshift rafts. The album won four awards at the 2004 Latin Grammy Awards
Latin Grammy Awards of 2004
The 5th Annual Latin Grammy Awards were held on Wednesday, September 1, 2004, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.This was the last telecast of the awards nationally in the United States in English with a CBS contract. Effective in 2005, the awards were announced in Spanish with an exclusive...
, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year. Sanz was unable to attend the event and his awards were accepted by presenters and colleagues. Also in 2004, he became the first Spanish musician to give a lecture at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, speaking about Hispanic culture at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
Founded in 1994, Harvard's David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies works to increase knowledge of the cultures, economies, histories, environment, and contemporary affairs of past and present Latin America. The Center's main office is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Harvard...
.
2005-07: El Tren de los Momentos
In 2005, Sanz collaborated with ShakiraShakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
on her song "La Tortura
La Tortura
"" is a Latin pop-reggaeton song performed by singers Shakira and Alejandro Sanz. It was recorded for Shakira's sixth studio album , released on June 7, 2005...
". Co-written by Sanz, the song became an international hit, breaking the record for the most weeks at the number one spot on the Hot Latin Songs chart. The song exposed Sanz to a more diverse audience, and helped build anticipation for his next release. The first single from the album El Tren de los Momentos
El Tren de los Momentos
El Tren de los Momentos is the seventh studio album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz, which counts with the collaborations of Juanes, Antonio Carmona , Shakira and Calle 13...
, "A la primera persona
A la primera persona
"A la primera persona" is a love song recorded by the pop Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz. It was released as the first single from his album El tren de los momentos...
", became his first song to enter the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 100 on the chart. The record was also noted for its guest appearances, which featured Shakira, Juanes
Juanes
Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez , better known as Juanes is a Colombian musician who was a member of heavy metal band Ekhymosis and is now a solo artist. In 2000, his solo debut album Fíjate Bien won three Latin Grammy Awards.Juanes has sold more than 13 million albums...
, Alex González
Alex González (musician)
Alejandro González , better known as Alex González, is an American Mexican musician of Cuban and Colombian origin. He is a member, drummer and songwriter for the Mexican band Maná. He is nicknamed "El Animal" and also sings lead vocals for many songs, including the single "Me Vale"...
of Maná
Maná
Maná is a pop rock band from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, whose career has spanned more than three decades. They have earned three Grammy Awards, seven Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards Latin America, five Premios Juventud awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards and 13 Premios Lo...
, and Residente of Calle 13
Calle 13 (band)
Calle 13 is a band formed by stepbrothers René Pérez Joglar , who calls himself Residente and Eduardo José Cabra Martínez , who calls himself Visitante Calle 13 is a band formed by stepbrothers René Pérez Joglar (born February 23, 1978 in Hato Rey, a subsection of San Juan, Puerto Rico), who calls...
.
In the spring of 2007, Sanz suffered a mental breakdown and was forced to take two months off in the middle of a world tour. The breakdown was caused by several events in his personal life, including the death of his father in 2005, his separation Mexican model and actress Jaydy Mitchel, and his announcement that he had a three-year-old son outside of his marriage with Mitchel. He commented on the situation, saying "You have to put things in perspective. It was stress, something that had never affected me, but this time, yes, it did. So I had to pay. A doctor told me to stop for a couple of months to recuperate completely." Sanz spent time in therapy, a time which "helped [him] a lot" and gave him "more power" to perform.
In a press conference in late 2007, he criticized Venezuelan
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
president Hugo Chavez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
, calling him "undemocratic" in the wake of a petition made by Venezuelan citizens to prevent Chavez from running for re-election. Sanz further stated "If they gave me 3 million signatures to stop singing, I would stop singing immediately." Supporters of Chavez subsequently gathered 230,000 signatures in response to Sanz' comments.
2008-present: Paraíso Express
To promote his new record, Paraíso ExpressParaíso Express
Paraíso Express is the eighth studio album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz. It was produced by Tommy Torres, mixed by Bob Clearmountain, and was released worldwide in late November 2009. This album is the follow-up to the Grammy Award winning album El Tren de los Momentos...
, Sanz created a campaign in which fans could create a video about their definition of paradise and upload it to his YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel. Artists such as Shakira, Laura Pausini
Laura Pausini
Laura Pausini, is a Grammy Award-winning Italian soul singer-songwriter. She debuted in 1993, winning the newcomer artists' section of the 43rd Sanremo Music Festival with the song "La solitudine", which became an Italian standard and an international hit, reaching the top spot on the Italian...
and Paulina Rubio
Paulina Rubio
Paulina Susana Rubio Rue is a Mexican singer and actress. Rubio achieved international stardom with her fifth studio album, Paulina...
also participated. On 10 November 2009, Sanz released Paraíso Express. This record was described as a return to form for Sanz, focusing more on melody as opposed to the experimentation he pursued on his previous two albums. He commented "On this album, I first composed the melody and then the lyrics. It is more of a rock album than my past releases, with more elegant and positive lyrics and a happier and more rhythmic spirit." The bilingual single "Looking for Paradise
Looking for Paradise
"Looking for Paradise" is a 2009 single by singer Alejandro Sanz which features Alicia Keys. It is the first single from Sanz's eighth studio album, Paraíso Express...
" featuring Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
reached number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart. At the 2010 Latin Grammy Awards, the album was nominated Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal, while the single "Desde Cuándo
Desde Cuándo
"Desde Cuándo" is a song by Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz, the song serves as second single for Sanz's eighth studio album "Paraíso Express" , it was released airplay through Warner Music on January 19, 2010 and digitally on February 2, 2010.-Music video:A music video for the song was filmed on...
" received both Record and Song of the Year nominations.
On 15 February 2011, Sanz announced that he would be signing with Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
after twenty years with Warner.
Musical style
Sanz is known for his distinctive raspy vocals, which he attributes to his flamenco roots. His song "Sí, He Cantado Mal" (Yes, I Have Sung Badly) from No Es Lo Mismo references this, with Sanz saying "I'm laughing a little at myself so that I can laugh at other things. Sometimes, I'm harder on myself than any music critic can be. I'm laughing at that." As a child, Sanz was heavily influenced by heavy metalHeavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
groups such as Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
and Dio
Dio (band)
Dio was an American heavy metal band from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Formed in 1982 and led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, after he left Black Sabbath with intentions to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath member, drummer Vinny Appice. Naming the band Dio made sense from a commercial...
, referring to himself as a "heavy metal radical".
Early in his career, his music generally consisted of romantic ballads
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
. However, in the late 1990s, his collaborations with other artists greatly expanded his musical style. On No Es Lo Mismo, he experimented with rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, salsa
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
, and hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
. El Tren de los Momentos continued this pattern, featuring diverse genres such as funk, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
. Despite this, Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic described his musical evolution by saying "Even as Sanz broadened his style over the years, he never ventured far from his strength: romantic songs, generally ballads, tinged with flamenco and sung wholeheartedly with his distinct voice."
Personal life
Sanz married Mexican fashion model and actress, Jaydy MichelJaydy Michel
Jaydy Michel Brixon is a Mexican fashion model.Born to a Mexican father and an US American mother, Jaydy Michel grew up in Puerto Vallarta, although she was born in Guadalajara, the capital of the state of Jalisco. She began her modeling career in Mexico, first in beauty pageants such as Miss...
in Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
on December 30, 1999, but this marriage was never legally recognized in either of their home countries. Sanz felt that having a legally recognized marriage was unnecessary: "My wife is my wife and I am her husband. For me, that has enough validity...I am married with the heart." The couple divorced in 2005. Their daughter, Manuela Sánchez Michel, was born in 2001. Sanz later had a son named Alexander with Valeria Rivera, a Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
fashion designer.
Sanz welcomed his third child in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, a boy named Dylan (b. July 2011), the first child from his relationship with girlfriend and former assistant, Raquel Perera. Taking into account Sanz's influence of flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
in his life he chose virtuoso flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía
Paco de Lucía
Paco de Lucía, born Francisco Sánchez Gómez , is a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist and composer. He is considered by many to be one of the finest guitarists in the world and the greatest guitarist of the flamenco genre...
to be the godfather
Godfather
A godfather is a male godparent in the Christian tradition.Godfather may also refer to:*A male arranged to be legal guardian of a child if untimely demise is met by the parentsPeople:* Capo di tutti capi, a Mafia crime boss...
to his son. Alejandro and Raquel are godparents to David Bisbal
David Bisbal
David Bisbal Ferré is a Grammy-winning Spanish pop singer. He gained his initial fame as a runner up on the interactive reality television show Operación Triunfo produced by TJ Hall....
's daughter, Ella.
Studio albums
- 1989: Los Chulos Son Pa' CuidarlosLos Chulos Son Pa' CuidarlosLos Chulos Son Pa' Cuidarlos is the first album recorded by Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz known at the time as Alejandro Magno with the Label Hispavox. The album offers a "Flamenco-Techno" style of music...
- 1991: Viviendo DeprisaViviendo DeprisaViviendo Deprisa is the debut album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz . With this album he was announced to national level, all the tracks were composed by Sanz but were credited to A. Medina pseudonymous that Sanz used initially in his career...
- 1993: Si tú me mirasSi Tú Me Mirassi tú me miras is the second album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz, where he counted with the inestimable collaboration of musicians as Paco de Lucía and Nacho Mañó...
- 1993: BásicoBasicòBasicò is a comune in the Province of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about 150 km east of Palermo and about 45 km southwest of Messina. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 730 and an area of 12.0 km²....
- 1995: 3Alejandro Sanz 3-Italian version :-Portuguese version:-Singles:- Album certifications :-Personnel:* Jack Adams – Mastering* Miguel Angel Arenas – Producer* Stefano Cantini – Saxophone* Óscar Clavel – Engineer, Mixing...
- 1997: MásMás (album)Más is the fourth studio album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz.- Track listing :- Re-Release :Más is the re-release of the album Más containing a CD and DVD...
- 2000: El alma al aireEl Alma Al AireEl Alma al Aire is the fifth studio album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz in which he gives us interpretations that come from the soul, melodies in which it seems that the voice breaks. It is one of his more suggestive and emotive works...
- 2003: No Es Lo MismoNo Es Lo MismoNo Es Lo Mismo: Edición Especial Gira is the 2004 re-release of the album No Es Lo Mismo containing a CD and DVD. The CD contains 5 new tracks and the DVD contains 11 videos.- CD :# No Es lo Mismo - 6:04# Hoy Llueve, Hoy Duele - 4:52...
- 2006: El Tren De Los MomentosEl Tren de los MomentosEl Tren de los Momentos is the seventh studio album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz, which counts with the collaborations of Juanes, Antonio Carmona , Shakira and Calle 13...
- 2009: Paraíso ExpressParaíso ExpressParaíso Express is the eighth studio album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz. It was produced by Tommy Torres, mixed by Bob Clearmountain, and was released worldwide in late November 2009. This album is the follow-up to the Grammy Award winning album El Tren de los Momentos...