Carlos Vives

Carlos Vives
Carlos Vives at a concert in Boston.
Background information
Born	August 7, 1961 Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia
Genres	Vallenato, cumbia, porro, champeta, rock, pop latino, bambuco
Occupations	Recording artist, composer and actor
Years active	1986–present
Associated acts	Rafael Escalona Juanes Hora Local Aterciopelados Bloque de Búsqueda (banda) Sidestepper
Website	www.carlosvives.com

Carlos Alberto Vives Restrepo (born August 7, 1961 in Santa Marta, Magdalena) is a Grammy Award and three-time Latin Grammy Award winning-Colombian singer, composer and actor.

Biography

Carlos Vives was born on August 7, 1961. in Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia, where he spent his first 12 years of life. At that age, he and his family moved to Bogotá in search of a better life. They lived with Diego Martinez and his family. In Bogota, he acquired a taste for rock, getting involved in the local music scene, and started playing in bars and cafés around the city.

1982-1989

In 1982, Vives began acting in in a number of shows and telenovelas including "Pequeños Gigantes" (Little Giants - 1983) and "Tuyo es Mi Corazón" (Yours is My Heart - 1985). He finally found notoriety in 1986 by playing the title role of Gallito Ramírez (which told the story of a Colombian Caribbean coast boxer who falls in love with an uptight girl, who was portrayed by his first wife, Margarita Rosa de Francisco). (1986). That same year, he released his first album, Por Fuera y Por Dentro. The album, primarily made of ballads, failed to gain any success. In 1987, he released his second ballad album, No Podrás Escapar de Mí. Though the title track reached #30 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, the album did not sell well. His next album, Al Centro de la Ciudad, would become his last album to feature synthesizer-romantic ballads. Some of the songs got some attention being featured in telenovelas, but the album, just as its predecessors, failed to gain success.

In 1989, he was offered an acting job in Puerto Rico, and upon moving, he took a break in his music career. There, he is remembered for his leading roles in the soaps La Otra and Aventurera. There he married Herlinda Gómez, his second wife (they have since divorced). Vives would spend his time between Colombia, Miami and the city of Mayagüez, Herlinda's hometown, during his marriage to her.

Since 1991

Upon his return to Colombia in 1991, he was offered a TV role that would change his life forever. He was cast in the leading role of a fantasy series based in the life of vallenato composer Rafael Escalona called, not surprisingly, Escalona. He sang the composer's songs in the series, and that's when he retooled his career towards vallenato, gaining national success with the release of the Telenovela's two soundtrack albums, Escalona: Un Canto a la Vida and Escalona: Vol. 2.

In 1993, backed by the band "La Provincia", Vives released the album Clásicos de la Provincia in which he started fusing Vallenato with rock, pop and other Caribbean Colombian ethnic rhythms. This fusion scandalized Vallenato purists. This style of vallenato was a huge success not only in Colombia but all over Latin countries, and the albums' lead single, La Gota Fría, became a hit all over Latin America. Clásicos de la Provincia, won the Billboard Latin Music Awards Best Album and would become a timeless classic in Colombian and Latin American music, introducing Vallenato to both Colombia and the rest of the world.

The follow-up album, La Tierra del Olvido would mark a further step in Vives' desire to fusion rock, funk and pop music with traditional Colombian genres. The album gave Vives classic hits such as the title track, and the up-tempo opening track Pa' Mayte.

His subsequent releases, Tengo Fe (1997), El Amor de Mi Tierra (1999), Déjame Entrar (2001) and El Rock de Mi Pueblo (2004), were all commercially successful and were well-received by the critics. In 2001 Carlos Vives' album "Déjame Entrar" won him his first Grammy award for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album.

In 2009 he released the album Clásicos de la Provincia II, which was sold exclusively in Colombian supermarket chain "Almacenes Éxito." The album saw Vives' return to covering famous Vallenato songs in his own style. It sold massively and the single Las Mujeres received wide radio airplay in all Colombia.

His hits include "Matilde Linda", "La Hamaca Grande", "La Gota Fría", "Alicia Adorada", "Pa' Mayte", "La Tierra del Olvido", "Tu Amor Eterno", "Fruta Fresca", "Déjame Entrar", "Luna Nueva", "Carito", "Papadio", "Como Tú" and "Décimas Del Parecido" (this last one a tribute to Guillermo Martínez, a Cuban-born radio host who resides in Mayagüez, and for whose program Vives was an occasional master control technician).

Personal life

Vives was married to the famous Colombian actress Margarita Rosa de Francisco in a relation that was closely followed by the national media. Herlinda Gómez was his second wife. He's now married to former Miss Colombia Claudia Helena Vásquez and has 2 children, : Lucy Vives, his first daughter and his son from his marriage with Herlinda Gómez. He spends his time between Miami and Colombia, mainly Santa Marta and Bogotá.

Discography

Carlos Vives

Ballads period

• Por Fuera y Por Dentro (1986)
• No Podrás Escapar de Mí (1987)
• Al Centro de la Ciudad (1989)

Vallenato/Ethnic fusion period

• Escalona - Un Canto A La Vida (1991)
• Escalona: Vol. 2 (1992)
• Clásicos de la Provincia (1993)
• La Tierra del Olvido (1995)
• Tengo Fe (1997)
• El Amor de Mi Tierra (1999)
• Déjame Entrar (2001)
• El Rock de Mi Pueblo (2004)
• Clásicos de la Provincia II (2009)

Melodic period

• Romántico (2005)

Filmography

• La estrategia del caracol (José Antonio Samper Pupo), 1993
• Escalona (Rafael Escalona), 1992
• La Tele, 1995
• La mujer doble (Mateo Escontria), 1992
• LP loca pasión (Sammy), 1989
• Gallito Ramírez (Javier "Gallito" Ramírez), 1986
• Tuyo es mi corazón, 1985
• David Copperfield, 1983
• Pequeños gigantes, 1980's

Awards

Preceded by Gloria Estefan for Alma Caribeña

Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album 2002 for Déjame Entrar

Succeeded by Bebo Valdés Trío with Israel López "Cachao" and Carlos Patato Valdés for El Arte del Sabor

See also

Carlos Vives at an event in the US Embassy in Bogota, Colombia.

• List of singer-songwriters/Colombia
• Pop Latino

External links

• (Spanish) Official site