Fito paez

Rodolfo Páez (Rosario, Santa Fe Province, Argentina, March 13, 1963), better known as Fito Páez, is a singer, songwriter, Argentine musician and film director. A member of the so-called Rosario trova, he is nicknamed The troubadour of Argentine rock and one of the most important exponents of rock in that country. In addition to his career as a musician, he has dabbled as a filmmaker, screenwriter, and novelist. With more than 40 years of solo career, his musical work is made up of 27 studio albums, 1 maxi single, 4 live albums, 3 DVDs, 12 compilation albums and numerous collaborations with leading international artists.

After a first critically acclaimed countercultural stage, the artist achieved his definitive international projection in the early nineties when he published the albums Love after love (1992) and Circo Beat (1994), which became huge commercial successes, selling more than a million copies with the former alone.

He has achieved a large number of awards, including the Grammy for "Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album" achieved in 2021 for his album La conquista del espacio. Plus eight Latin Grammy Awards. He conquered the first two in the year 2000 as "best male rock singer" for his album Abre (1999) and "Al lado del camino" as best rock song. Between 2007 and 2009 he received three consecutive Grammys and in different categories: "Best Vocal Rock Album" for The world fits in a song, "Best Singer-Songwriter Album of the Year" for Rodolfo and best male pop vocal album, for his album I don't know if it's Baires or Madrid. The Konex Foundation also awarded him the Platinum Konex Award in 1995 as "best rock composer of the decade in Argentina". Then, in 2005, he obtained the Konex Award - Diploma of Merit as one of the "five best rock composers of the decade", and he obtained it again in 2015, this time in the discipline "best male pop soloist", in addition, in 2018 he won another Latin Grammy for the category "best rock song" for his song Tu vida, mi vida, from his penultimate album La ciudad liberada. In 2020, he again obtained two new Latin Grammy Awards as "Best Pop/Rock Album of the Year" for La conquista del espacio and as "Best Pop/Rock Song of the Year" for "La canción of the beasts".

Biography

Childhood (1963-1975)

He is the son of Margarita Zulema Ávalos (concert pianist, arithmetic and algebra teacher) and Rodolfo Páez (administrative employee of the municipality). When Páez was eight months old, his mother, Margarita, died after suffering from liver cancer, so his upbringing was left in the hands of his father and his paternal grandmother.

At the age of 14 he was already wearing glasses to counteract myopia. His musical learning of the piano began with private lessons from Mrs. Bustos, later he went to the Scarafía Institute, where he became familiar with the learning methods and techniques of Hanón and Carl Czerny (traditionally used in learning classical piano), under the guidance of a Ukrainian professor who had been his mother's teacher. As it was difficult for her to read sheet music, she took out "by ear" the works that her teacher played. But when the classical works he was supposed to perform became more complex, the professor realized he couldn't read sheet music and fired him. He abandoned formal apprenticeship and ventured into the underground scene in his hometown, where his natural talent began. to be noticed very soon.

Musical beginnings (1975-1980)

His first formation dates from elementary school: he formed a folklore trio, where he played a bass drum that his father had given him. His first experience in a rock band was sitting at the piano and accompanied by Ricardo Vilaseca and Patricio Pietro on acoustic guitars. They played Sui Géneris songs in the schoolyard.

In 1979 he formed Neolalia ('new language') together with classmates from the Dante Alighieri school and friends from the neighborhood. They only made two live performances. Later he would form groups like Sueñosía, along with Fabián Gallardo, Gno el Bizarro, Graf, and Arcana; very short experiences that did not culminate in the recording of any album. In 1980 he formed Staff, whose greatest achievement was winning first prize in the progressive music contest, which included musician Juan Carlos Baglietto among the jury.

Later, he was asked to join El Banquete, also made up of Ruben Goldin, Silvina Garré, Daniel One-eyed Wirzt, Sergio Sainz and Jose Zappo Aguilera.

At the same time, he was also part of the Acalanto group, a folklore ensemble with guitarist Pichi de Benedictis.

La trova rosarina and his work with Charly García (1981-1985)

The career of Fito (first from the left) began to form part of the rosary trove in the early 1980s.

At the beginning of the '80s, Fito joined the Argentine musical movement known as trova rosarina, beginning his career. Among the Rosario troubadours were Juan Carlos Baglietto, Silvina Garré, Adrián Abonizio, Jorge Fandermole and Fito himself.

In 1981 Juan Carlos Baglietto, who performed alongside the group Acalanto, included him as keyboardist and arranger (together with Rubén Goldín) in his band. With which they were invited to a mega recital organized by the magazine Humor at the Obras Sanitarias Stadium, in repudiation of the arrival of Frank Sinatra in Argentina. For the first time in history, bands from the interior of the country came together to play in that stadium in Buenos Aires.^{[citation required]}

In 1982, Baglietto signs with the EMI record company and they record the album Tiempos difículos, where half of the songs were composed by Páez and had an important success, reaching the gold plate at the end of that year. ^{[citation required]} The album was presented during the Malvinas war at the Obras Sanitarias Stadium on May 14, 1982, in a historic recital that is considered the founding moment of the so-called Trova Rosarina.

That same year (1982) Baglietto published the album Actuar para vivir, where Fito Páez participated on keyboards and composed four of the ten songs, including the one that gave the album its name. This work was presented live at the Astral Theater. In 1983 he participated in Baglietto's third album contributing two songs: "Trying to grow" and "Un loco en la calesita". His last participation with Baglietto's band would be in 1985 with the album Modelo para armar , contributing the song that closes the album: «Things have movement».

From the time with Baglietto, a series of recitals in Rosario (Festival Rock Rosario 83) and in Buenos Aires (Estadio Obras Sanitarias) stand out.

At the same time ―and due to the departure of Andrés Calamaro―, Fito Páez joined Charly García's band, recommended by Jorge Lonch, for the tour of the album Clics modernos in 1983. Later he participated in the recording of the album Piano bar (1984). There he meets who would be his partner until 1990, Fabiana Cantilo, who was a backup singer of the band.

Solo career (1983-present)

Fito Páez in 1985

Contract with EMI and first albums (1983-1986)

In 1984, he signed a five-year contract with the EMI record company and released his first LP called Del 63 after two months of work at the Panda studios in the Floresta neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Of this work, the songs "Del 63", "Tres aguillas" and "La rumba del piano" stand out.

The album Giros (of 1985) meant taking off the career of Páez. He's considered one of his best albums.

Between 1984 and 1985 he recorded the album Giros, an album of great repercussion, through which he achieved recognition in Argentina. The songs "Giros", "I come to offer my heart", "11 and 6", and "Cable a tierra" stand out. This album marks the consolidation of the artist, with effective lyrics and a new sound. Fito Páez's voice, together with the rhythmic variety of the songs, generated a melodic amalgamation that was highly commented by the press and received great public acceptance. This work was presented at Luna Park, in La Falda and finally in Rosario for the benefit of those affected by the floods of that year.

In March 1986, he recorded in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) the maxi-single Corazón clandestine, an album containing three songs with the collaboration of Caetano Veloso on the song «La rumba del piano », which they recorded in Portuguese.

During 1986 he played intermittently with his band and with Charly García and Las Ligas.

Between August and October 1986, he recorded the album La la la with Luis Alberto Spinetta at the ION studios (in Buenos Aires). From this album is the well-known song with a coastal air “Part of the air”, composed when his father died, where he imagines the postmortem encounter with his mother ("through the milky way they will meet on some planet, somewhere&# 34;). The live presentations take place at the Obras Sanitarias Stadium and in Santiago de Chile.

In the same year, he performed with his band in Lima (Peru), within the framework of the Latin American Cultural Integration Week, and at the Varadero Festival (Cuba).

City of Poor Hearts (1986-1991)

As the 1980s progressed, Fito was gaining renown in the environment as a composer and litrist. By its rock and tango merges, in 1989 the approval of the tango emblem, Osvaldo Pugliese was won.

On November 7, 1986, while Fito was on tour in Rio de Janeiro, Delma Zulema Ramírez de Páez (Fito's grandmother), Josefa Páez (great-aunt) and Fermina Godoy (grandmothers' employee, pregnant) were brutally murdered. The previous year his father had died. In the crime of the grandmothers, everyone was blamed, the employee's husband, Fito's uncles, and Fito himself. When the artist heard the news, he expressed some time later:

I can't explain how the hotel room in Rio stayed. I destroyed it. Violent pain. I lost so much consciousness that today I don't remember exactly what happened. He was like an animal in his own pain. [...] I think I spent it all day crying, taking whiskey and lexotanyl. [...] When I returned to Rosario, imagine how many versions there were at that time: that it was a revenge against me, that I was involved in drug trafficking, that my cousins... In fact, in City of poor hearts I say, "I don't want to start thinking who put the weed in the old drawer." My cousin and uncle saw one of the canas (police) put a fume box in a drawer where I had kept my stuff, letters, papers. They saw him, but we didn't want to delve much into that subject. It looks like the police wanted to find a culprit quickly. The truth is it was a very confusing time.

Fito Páez

Later it was determined that the act was carried out by a frustrated bassist: Walter De Giusti (1962-1998), who lived in Rosario and knew the victims. The fact caused a high impact on the musician. Fabiana Cantilo, seeing the emotional deterioration of the artist, forced him one day to get out of bed to go to the recording studio. It is there that he composed the song "City of Poor Hearts."

When I found Baglietto in La Mar Studios, he asked me, "How are you?" I gave him play to the recording console and began to hear the theme: “In this fucking city everything burns and goes away, they kill poor hearts!” (with a dramatic instrumentation of keyboards and guitars). When I finished, I answered, "I am so."

Fito Páez

City of Poor Hearts was published in 1987 and is considered the most visceral of his career. It is a furious and violent album, which is shocking due to its rawness. Among the songs that deviate from the main theme are "People without swing", "Ambar violet" and "Giving around in the air". There are three songs where Fabiana Cantilo's participation in the voices stands out: "Nothing more precious to me", "Dancing until the night goes away" and "Track Track". The rest of the songs are marked by darkness and tragedy, but have a certain poetic accent and good arrangements. The album is a portrait of the feelings that seize the musician and a descent into hell without compromising artistic quality, with lyrics that represent small social portraits and where the artist maintains a variety of rhythmic styles.

The folklorist Leda Valladares brought together a dozen musicians from various genres for their album Scream in the sky (1989). In the photo: Pedro Aznar, Fito, Valladares and Gustavo Cerati.

His last album with the EMI Music label was Ey!, from 1988. The album was composed, arranged and produced by Fito Páez. It was recorded between Buenos Aires, New York and Havana and Tweety González appears again in the studio production. Songs like "Polaroid of ordinary madness" (which became another anthem in his repertoire), "Only the boys", "Give me a talisman", "Far away in Berlin" and "Fake tattoo" won the approval of the musician's followers. and part of the specialized criticism.

The style of this album is completely unclassifiable: there is still contained rage and glimpses of absolute clarity; achieving a mix between rock songs and those that exude Latin cadences closely related to Caribbean rhythms as is the case of: «Por seven vidas (Hunting)» where the Afrocuba group participates in the wind section.

Y! was presented live, in different places with the same band that recorded the album, accompanied in choirs by Fabiana Cantilo, to whom he dedicated the album.

That 1988 closed with the formation of a duo with Guillermo Vadalá called Chapa y Pintura, with whom they performed those songs that did not fit into Páez's solo project, including tangos, folklore, unknown songs by other Argentine artists and even some of The Beatles.

In 1990, Fito Páez faced problems for the publication of what would be his new record material. The EMI record company, at the time, refused to publish his new work because it considered it uncommercial by the company's basic standards.

Without a record label and without money to pay his debts, at a time when Argentina had high inflation, Páez received the news that Fabián Gallardo ―ex-guitarist of his band and childhood friend― had been named artistic producer of WEA (Warner Music Group). Gallardo offered him a contract with said company and he edited and published the album Tercer mundo in 1990. To the surprise of Páez, who had gone to Europe with a view to settling there, the album was a success, becoming a gold record in his country..

In that same year, Páez produced the album Algo mejor by Fabiana Cantilo, which was the most successful of the singer's career.

International success (1992-1998)

Fiber in 1995

Love after love, released in 1992, marks the definitive consecration of the singer from Rosario.

The lyrics and music of the 14 songs are by Fito Páez. This work brought together artists of the stature of Mercedes Sosa, Andrés Calamaro, Charly García, Gustavo Cerati, Luis Alberto Spinetta, Fabiana Cantilo, Celeste Carballo, Claudia Puyó and Ariel Rot, marking one of the peaks in the artist's career. It also has a team of producers such as Carlos Narea, Fernando Moya and Alejandro Avalis; with Nigel Walker leading the team of recording and mixing technicians.

Among the most representative songs on the album we can mention those of a rocker and optimistic nature: «Love after love», «Brilliant on the mic», «Two days in my life», «A rodar mi vida» and "The Magic Wheel"; the latter gives the name of the extensive 1992-1993 tour: La Rueda Mágica Tour.

There is a second group of songs of an intimate nature: «Un vestido y un amor» (reversed by other internationally renowned artists such as Caetano Veloso and Mercedes Sosa), «Pétalo de sal», sung together with Luis Alberto Spinetta, « Tombs of Glory» and «Ballad of Donna Helena» (originally composed for the album Tercer mundo). Special mention for the song "Detrás del muro de lamentos" recorded with Mercedes Sosa with a strong folkloric accent and "Two days in the life", based on the movie Thelma & Louise, with Fabiana Cantilo and Celeste Carballo on vocals.

Thanks to this success, Fito Páez performed a series of 11 recitals at the Gran Rex theater in Buenos Aires to later tour (filling stadiums and turning his concerts into authentic parties) throughout Argentina and more than nine countries, including Cuba, where he was the first non-Cuban artist to perform in the Plaza de la Revolución, in front of 40,000 people.^{[citation required]}

In the middle of the 1993 tour, it was awarded a quadruple platinum record, with 240,000 records sold.^{[citation needed]} and the ACE (Association of Chroniclers de Espectáculos) awarded him three classifications: “best video clip”, “best rock song” (for the song Tumbas de la Gloria) and “best solo rock album” (for Love after love).

Fito Páez and his band performed a total of 120 shows throughout 1993. The tour ended at the Vélez Sarsfield Stadium in Buenos Aires, where on April 24 and 25, 84,122 people paid their tickets for attend the recitals.

In December, Páez once again convened a concert at the Vélez Sarsfield Stadium, but this time entirely for the benefit of UNICEF, leaving just over half a million dollars for this United Nations organization.

Taking advantage of the unusual success obtained by the artist, the record company EMI publishes on compact disc the works Del 63, Giros, Ciudad de pobres corazónes, La la la and Ey!, leaving out of this release the maxi Clandestine Heart. Years later he released two compiled albums called Crónica and Lo mejor de Fito Páez . In 1993, the newspapers Clarín and Página/12 cataloged Páez as “best soloist” and “best show in Vélez”. He was nominated to be named "illustrious citizen" of the city of Rosario, although that project never prospered among the city's mayors.

It is estimated that Love after love sold more than 750,000 copies, making it the best-selling album in the history of Argentine rock.

In 1994 Fito Páez published Circo beat, which includes «Mariposa tecknicolor», «Soy un hippie», «Tema de Piluso» (in homage to the Rosario comedian Alberto Olmedo), «What the The wind never took away" and "If Disney woke up". These songs are considered among the most luminous of the artist; with themes and arrangements that exude joy and optimism.

Circo beat was an album recorded at a stellar moment in his career and is considered one of the most careful productions by the man from Rosario and one of the singer's own favorites. In an interview, Fito declared that it was one of the few albums that he has made under pressure from the record company and that, for this purpose, he secluded himself in his hometown to recreate experiences from his early years. The production of this album is the responsibility of Phil Manzanera and was recorded passing through Argentina, Italy and London.

This work was released in Brazil with three bonus tracks in Portuguese: «Mariposa tecknicolor» duet with Caetano Veloso, «She's mine» with Djavan and «Nas luzes de Rosario» («Piluso's Theme»), with Herbert Vianna, of the Paralamas). In total, this plate sold 350,000 copies, which made it the second most successful album in Argentina in 1995.

The official presentation of this new work was done through 20 recitals at the Opera Theater, closing at the River Plate stadium, where it summoned 25,000 spectators. He closed the year with a free recital in the Bosques de Palermo, which was attended by 50,000 people.

In 1996, the MTV television network offered him to edit a live and acoustic album, within the cycle called MTV Unplugged, in which most of the world-renowned musicians have released their works. within this format. But Páez did not reach an economic agreement with that firm and decided to face a similar project independently.

Finally, in co-production with the Argentine television channel Telefé, he released an acoustic-symphonic album called Euforia (1996), which was his first work recorded live. For this album, Fito composed three unpublished songs: "Exquisite corpse", "Your gifts should arrive" and "Dar es dar", which was an instant success.

After a silence of two years, he returned to the recording studios, together with the Spanish singer-songwriter Joaquín Sabina with the album: Intimate Enemies (1998). The title is a reflection of how complicated the creative process was, where the Spaniard would contribute his fine prose and Fito would be in charge of the musical part. The album finally did not have public presentations or the expected promotional tour, due to artistic incompatibilities.

On that occasion, more than 70 concerts that had been sold and promoted around the world were cancelled. The scandal was greater when Luis Carrillo (who was going to be the director proposed by Sabina for the Delirium Tremens video) made public a letter that Sabina wrote to Páez, where in verse form, he summarized the reasons that determined the end of the relationship. labor among artists: «It is urgent to cut to the chase, with the summer tour, and the video quilombo. The role of the ugly duckling does not suit me, I assure you, and even less the role of the tough man, which costs you so little ».

On an artistic level, the two singers classify it as a good job, which is full of songs where Páez's style and voice reach predominance, and among which "Llueve sobre mojado" stood out, with a well-known promotional video throughout Spanish America.

Renovation (1999-2004)

Fito Páez in 2003.

In 1999 he released Abre: the first album that, with new songs and as a soloist, presented the man from Rosario after Circo beat (1994). The album, produced by Phil Ramone, seeks to place the voice above the orchestral arrangements. It is an album with long songs and strong lyrics such as: «La casa desaparecidad», where Páez addresses a rather pessimistic view of Argentina in eleven minutes; There are also optimistic songs like: "Buena Estrella" and "Dos en la ciudad" that was supported through a video where Fito Páez and Cecilia Roth appear in part of the scenes. The song released as a single was: Al lado del camino, which immediately achieved success, making a highly promoted video on television.

As a result of this album, Fito Páez won his first Latin Grammy awards in 2000: “best male rock singer” and “best rock song” for Al lado del camino. The album was presented through various concerts, the most remembered performance being the one he recorded for the DirecTV satellite TV company and the HBO Olé channel, together with Milton Nascimento at the Luna Park stadium (Buenos Aires).

In November of the year 2000, Fito Páez published the album Rey Sol, a work of 13 songs recorded in the middle of the promotional tour of the album Abre, produced again by Phil Ramone, and recorded and mixed in Miami.

This album constitutes his third album, produced in consecutive years, after Enemigos íntimos (1998) and Abre (1999).

The broadcast cut was the song “El diablo de tu corazón”, where through a personal and metaphorical vision he accuses the City of Buenos Aires and its inhabitants of having: the devil inside his heart. The video clip, directed by Eddie Flehner, presented violent urban images in the form of hyperbole: fights, destruction, clashes in the avenues; with a vision where he shows the tension and anger that exists in everyday human relationships, ending in scenes of people kissing in the streets at the moment when the lyrics of the theme ask: "Why is love so hard for us?"

The album also features the songs: "Rey sol" dedicated to his one-year-old son, who appears on the album cover; "Okay" vindicating Charly García's famous jump into the void into a hotel pool and "Dale loca" a kind of ballad where there is a strange mixture of rage and melancholy.

This album marks the end of his contract with Warner Music, a company for which he produced seven albums between 1990 and 2000, making him one of the most prolific Argentine artists of the '90s.

In May 2003, following the separation with Cecilia Roth in 2002, he released Naturaleza sangre, an album in which he returns to the rock aesthetic of the eighties, and where they appear as guest artists: the Brazilian singer Rita Lee, Charly García and Luis Alberto Spinetta.

This album is released independently by Páez under his own label: Circo Beat-DBN and was recorded in the artist's studios in the city of Buenos Aires. Part of the songs are a kind of portrait of his emotional state after his separation with the actress Cecilia Roth, who after ten years and a son stopped being a couple at the end of 2002. Apart from the heartbreak songs: "Insoportable", "Oh nena", "139 Lexatins" and "Los restos de nuestro amor", the album presents quite rocky songs and with optimistic lyrics such as "Volver a mí", "Urgente amar", "Sunrise" and "Absolut Empty"; the latter was included as one of the musical themes in the film that Fito would shoot in 2007. The album also marks the reunion with Charly García, who performs the song "Naturaleza sangre" in a duet with Fito.

As a result of this record work, Páez began his return to the stage, going on tour throughout the American continent and Europe with the musicians Guillermo Vadalá (bassist who has been part of Páez's band since 1988), Gonzalo Aloras (guitar), Sergio Verdinelli (drums, replaced by Jota Morelli) and Javier Lozano (keyboards). At the end of December 2003, he closed the party for the 114th anniversary of Club Atlético Rosario Central, of which he is a fan.

In September of the same year, he released his first DVD, entitled Naturaleza sangre, which includes the complete recital he gave the previous year at the Teatro Gran Rex, to a full room.

The DVD includes the video for the song "Bello abril", in which he sings with Luis Alberto Spinetta. It contains a set of photos of concerts, press conferences, images with fellow musicians and closes with two more videos: the first is of Páez himself at the piano, interpreting an unpublished song entitled Beauty; and the second shows Páez in a home video which contains images of his son Martín. With this release the singer celebrates the 20th anniversary of his live debut in 1984.

At the end of 2004, My life with them was released, her second album (after Euforia) with live recordings and edited through her label Circus Beat-DBN. It was a double disc that contains 18 songs from different recitals, which includes versions and themes of his authorship. The name of the album refers to the women who shared life with Páez. From his aunt Charito who raised him, Fabiana Cantilo (his love from the eighties), his ex-wife Cecilia Roth and Romina Ricci, among the most prominent.

Acoustic and rock/pop (2005-2011)

Fito Páez on a visit to Casa Rosada, 2006.

In 2005, already with rumors of the separation of the Páez-Ricci couple, which would later be confirmed, a new work was released by their independent production company.

This record bears the name Moda y pueblo in which it includes songs by Lito Nebbia, Luis Alberto Spinetta, Charly García and sets a poem by Federico García Lorca to music: «Romance de la pena negra»; in addition to reversing his own songs. The album closes with the unpublished song "Las palabras". The album features a 9-string orchestra, conducted by Gerardo Gandini.

It can be considered his second acoustic-symphonic album after Euforia, but this time recorded in a studio. The cover of this album features the popular Argentine actress and host Susana Giménez.

This year, he made an artistic collaboration on the album Bachata entre amigos, by the Dominican singer-songwriter Víctor Víctor, with whom he performs as a duet and to the rhythm of bachata, his song Un vestido y un love.

In 2006, after almost three years without producing musical themes under a «rocker» line, The world fits in a song was released, recorded in his Circo Beat studio (in Buenos Aires), under the Sony/BMG record label. The album includes 11 new songs written by Páez and marks his return to a multinational company, after his independent experience that he spanned on his three previous albums.

Eso que llevas ahí was the album's broadcast cut, and its video was shot in different places in his hometown. In January 2007, the video of Enloquecer was also released, in which images of his latest film as a director are shown, Whose is the garter belt?, a film which would be released in September of that same year.

The album sold more than 20,000 units on the day of its release in Argentina and is considered an album of great artistic quality, despite some critics, who classified some songs as pretentious and pedantic. The world fits in a song won at the eighth edition of the Latin Grammy Awards, awarded in Las Vegas in 2007, the award for “best vocal rock album”.

On Saturday, February 24, 2007, he found Páez as the protagonist of one of the most important shows in Latin America, the Viña del Mar festival (in Chile), where he offered a one-hour recital, with an audience that chanted all their songs. One of the highlights was when Álvaro Henríquez took the stage, accompanying Páez on the song City of Poor Hearts. At the end of that song, the Uruguayan musician Rubén Rada took the stage to perform the song A rodar mi vida with the Argentine. Fito Páez was recognized that night with the Silver Torch, Golden Torch and Silver Gaviota, which are the highest awards given at that show.

In July 2007, he embarked on a new tour with the renowned American singer-songwriter Bon Jovi, with recitals that were carried out individually in the countries of Mexico and Colombia, within the framework of three benefit concerts for the purpose of raise funds to recover natural spaces and promote social activity. On August 30, 2007, the album Rodolfo was released, in which the Argentine singer-songwriter accompanied only by the piano, composed a total of 12 new songs, two of which are instrumental.

Among the lyrics of this work you can appreciate love stories of the musician, the story of a woman in jail, stories of families, children and even a song of "thank you-tribute" to his idols Luis Alberto Spinetta, Litto Nebbia and Charly Garcia. The criticism of this work was quite divided between those who thought that it was a work that had been a project of the singer for a long time and others who did not consider this production necessary.

The presentation of Rodolfo took place on October 5, 6 and 7 and November 19 and 20, 2007 at the Teatro Ópera in Buenos Aires. With this work he won a Latin Grammy for best "singer-songwriter album."

In 2008, his third album recorded live was released, entitled I don't know if it's Baires or Madrid, where Páez sang 15 of his most representative songs. The audio was recorded at the Palacio de los Congresos, in Madrid (Spain). In this presentation, the Spanish groups Pereza and Marlango appear as guests; Pablo Milanes and Ariel Rot. This concert marks the artistic reunion with Joaquín Sabina singing Sabina's song: "Contigo", the only song that was not his authorship. This presentation was released in DVD format, becoming the second work of this type owned by the Argentine artist.

After 6 years, he performed again at the mythical Luna Park Stadium in the City of Buenos Aires, accompanied by the rock band Coki & The Killer Burritos, giving two concerts, on May 28 and 29, 2009. The presentation had as guests Juanse, Fabiana Cantilo, Carlos Vandera, Gonzalo Aloras and, reliving their beginnings, together with Juan Carlos Baglietto, with a version in piano of his song "Life is a coin (It's just about living)", which first appeared in Baglietto's Difficult Times.

On Monday, June 29, 2009, Fito closed the Rock al Parque festival in Bogotá, Colombia in its 15th version. 150,000 people attended, the largest audience ever seen at the Festival. Ten years later, for the 25th edition, he would return to the Bogotá festival to close again with the same number of attendees.

Weeks later, on Wednesday, July 22, he received the 2009 Gardel Music Award in the category «best album, artist, testimonial song and author» for the album I don't know if it's Baires or Madrid; He was also nominated in the categories "Best Movie/TV Soundtrack Album" for the album Who owns the league belt? and "Best DVD" for I don't know if it's Baires or Madrid .

In November 2009, Fito Páez won Best Male Pop Vocal Album at the 2009 Latin Grammy Awards, for No sé si es Baires o Madrid.

Fito Páez at the Festival de las Almas (2010) in Mexico.

On March 16, 2010, Confiá was released, recorded between the months of July and December 2009 in the cities of Córdoba, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. The album had 12 songs unpublished and a renewed band made up of: Aloras and Coki, on guitars; Eloy Quintana, on bass; Bolsa González, on drums, and Eduardo Lyra, on percussion. For its promotion, three video clips were recorded: "Tiempo al tiempo", "Confiá" and "London Town". This work was presented on May 7, 2010 at the Luna Park stadium, as part of the promotional tour.

On May 25, 2010, Fito Páez closed the events of the Bicentennial of the May Revolution with a two-hour recital at the Obelisco (Buenos Aires) in front of an emotional crowd, estimated at more than two million people. In 2012 he performed his recital in Santa Fe on the bicentennial of the first raising of the Argentine flag in Rosario

On November 6 of the same year, he celebrated his 30-year career with a concert at the National Auditorium of Mexico in which the following were special guests: Armando Manzanero, Quique y Meme (from Café Tacvba), Julieta Venegas and Susana Zabaleta.

In December 2010, he participated in the El Abrazo Festival, together with the greatest Argentine and Chilean rock musicians in Santiago de Chile. After the concert, he called the Chilean band Los Tres on stage, cataloging it as his favorite band from South America. Finally, on April 30, 2011, she closes the presentations of her album Confiá with a concert at the GEBA club.

At the end of 2011 Fito Páez recorded the studio album Canciones para aliens, being the first album where songs written by him did not appear. These are versions and translations of famous songs with the purpose of being sent into space, to be heard by someone in some remote part of the universe. The production and arrangements were in charge of Leo Sujatovich. Of the 14 songs, five are sung as a duet and among the covered Hispanic authors, the following stand out: Chico Buarque, Pablo Milanés, Joan Manuel Serrat and Charly García. Special mention deserves the version of the song "Un beso y una flor", popularized by Nino Bravo in 1972 and "Las dos caras del amor" a free translation of the song "Somebody to love" by the Queen group.

In July 2011, in an opinion note where he commented that "half of Buenos Aires is disgusting" referring to the re-election of Mauricio Macri without subscribing to the statements, they defended Fito's right to free expression.

In an interview with Radio del Plata, Fito was asked about creating a hotline to denounce "political interference" in schools:

In the dictatorship they would have been buchons and handed over people. They're lame, I don't know what they're defending; they don't like connecting with others. No one can put a line to report something that doesn't happen. I find those ideas, I don't want to think so, but they almost forced me.

Fito Páez

Prolific Phyto (2012-present)

Fito Páez Quilmes Rock 2012

In early 2012 the album Mormazo by Dani Umpi was released, which contains the song "El tiempo pasar", by Umpi, in which Páez and the Peruvian singer Wendy Sulca collaborated musically.

In mid-2012, Páez presented his tour Twenty years after love, which took him to play in Cuba, Chile, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, Paraguay, Bolivia, Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, Spain, Israel, United Kingdom, France, and also in the cities of Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Rosario, Tucumán and Córdoba of the Argentine Republic.

Her recital in Buenos Aires, held at the Planetarium, brought together more than 38,000 people and received guests such as Charly García, Fabiana Cantilo and Celeste Carballo. This recital was published for a DVD by Sony Music. Months later she gave a free recital on the bicentennial of the first raising of the Argentine flag in the city of Rosario, lasting almost two hours, which was attended by around 50,000 people.

In 2013 Páez won another for Best Rock Vocal Album, for "The world fits in a song". Cerati and Páez were the only Argentines awarded at the eighth edition of the Latin Grammy Awards, awarded in Las Vegas,

On March 22, 2013, he performed at the Luna Park stadium (Buenos Aires) for this same tour and with the ticket was given a copy of El sacrificio ―described by Páez himself as:

A record of fucking songs, it's like my black album... it's a bit of a nice album that brings together sordid songs that I composed between 1989 and 2013

Fito Páez

This album could only be obtained at the stadium through the iTunes system. The album contains dark lyrics reminiscent of the City of Poor Hearts era, as well as a much more eclectic musical style than seen in recent times.

Continuing the prolific year 2013, Fito launches Dreaming Rosario in September to benefit the victims of the tragic explosion of a building in his hometown, in which 22 people lost their lives and 66 were injured. The album could only be downloaded through iTunes, and all royalties were donated for two years through Red Solidaria and Mundo Invisible.That year he released Yo te amo in November. Of note from this album are the homonymous single Yo te amo , Margarita dedicated to his daughter, and La velocidad del tiempo dedicated to Gustavo Cerati. Two studio albums that add 10 and 11 unpublished songs respectively to his extensive repertoire as a composer. About the latter he publishes on his Facebook account:

With Diego (Olivero) we proposed to have some clear frames on this occasion. Short songs, with little instrumentation, harmonic clarity and melodies that we really like to sing again. Back to the classic format of the albums we heard in our childhood and youth in the city of Rosario. Enjoy the tiredness of the seemingly simple.

Fito Páez

In February 2014, the musician from Rosario performed at the LV Viña del Mar International Song Festival, being acclaimed by the public. Despite going on stage very late at night, Páez put on a high-quality show with nuances of jazz and rock. During his presentation, he was recognized with all the awards that the contest awards plus the unconditional affection of the Chilean public, to which Fito responded with an unforgettable concert that closed the second night of the Viñamarino show.

In July 2014, he released the first single from his album Rock and Roll Revolution as a tribute to Charly García. On August 9, the album was finally released in digital format through iTunes and in a special physical edition. The production, which according to Páez himself is a tribute to Charly García, contains eleven unpublished songs, all composed by the singer except Loco, which was written by García and The days of smiles, wine and flowers that he wrote together with Gabriel Carámbula. This work is the musician's twenty-sixth album. RRR was composed and recorded during 2014 in Buenos Aires and mixed in New York.

On August 21, 2015, a new album was released, Total Madness, recorded together with the Brazilian musician Paulinho Moska, in their first collaborative recording in seventeen years. The album was recorded in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Miami, and was produced by Liminha, producer of emblematic artists of Brazilian music such as Os Paralamas do Sucesso or Ed Motta.

During 2015 he toured 30 Years of Giros, in celebration of the anniversary of the emblematic album Giros.

In June 2017, the recording of his electronic and experimental album began.

It was released in November, titled The Liberated City, immediately generating controversy due to its cover, where Fito appears with makeup and the body of a naked woman. The album, with 18 songs at 70 minutes long, it was critically acclaimed. From this album came the singles and video clips Hallelujah to the sun, Tu vida mi vida, and La ciudad liberada. The song Tu vida mi vida, won the award for best rock song of the year at the 2018 Latin Grammys.

During 2019 he records a new album at the mythical Capitol Studios, in Los Angeles, and has the participation of great international artists. On March 13, 2020 Fito Páez celebrates his 57th birthday, and releases La conquista del espacio his twenty-third album. The album has an international imprint, considering that it was recorded at Capitol Studios, the creative temple of the most important music figures located in Los Angeles, and in which musicians such as Abe Laboriel, drummer for Paul McCartney, the Argentine Guillermo Vadalá participated. and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. The new material has nine unpublished songs and was recorded by the renowned Argentine recording engineer Gustavo Borner, winner of 16 Grammys. His first single is & # 34; Resuscitate & # 34;, a theme that he released on the first days of February accompanied by a video clip.

In 2021 he made a special appearance on the eltrece television program, Showmatch La Academia. Greeting her ex-partner (Romina Ricci) who was competing in the program and her daughter who was present there. Romina was doing an imitation of himself (Fito) in the impersonation round.

In 2022 the tour "El Amor 30 Años Después del Amor Tour" began, as a celebration of the anniversary of the release of the album El amor después del amor, in 1992. The tour began with 8 concerts in Buenos Aires and, internationally, with presentations in the United States, Venezuela, Spain, Chile and Uruguay.

Film career

The first reference to Fito Páez dates back to 1987, when the director Fernando Spiner ―inspired by the LP City of Poor Hearts, and through a medium-length film conceived for television― «tells a violent story, where he links all the songs on the album accompanied by a heartbreaking stage delivery by the musician».

Later, Páez participated as an interpreter in two films by Pino Solanas: Sur (1988) and El viaje (1992); in the latter, he briefly appears as himself, as an idealistic musician.

In 1993 he directed his first medium-length film: The Ballad of Donna Helena, a sordid story that recreates infernal underworlds. That same year, she appeared in the film No se habla de eso , by María Luisa Bemberg.

In 2001 ―after a long search for financing― Páez made his debut as a film director with his first feature film, which he titled Private Lives. The script was written by Páez himself in collaboration with Alan Pauls, and takes place during the last Argentine military dictatorship (1976-1983), touching on issues such as adoption and incest. Cecilia Roth and Gael García Bernal were the main protagonists of the film. Fito declared that this film is part of a vital need to tell stories and convey experiences that it was impossible to recreate with songs.

The film was not favored by critics or audiences. It is said that the filming contributed to the breakdown of the sentimental relationship between Fito and Cecilia Roth, due to the personality conflicts that occurred during filming and the emotional overexposure of the couple. Apart from this, the financing of several producers was withdrawn before starting to shoot the film, so the musician ended up committing part of his assets to this project.

In 2007 he premiered Whose belt is it?, his third film project as director and screenwriter. The film was shot in Rosario and La Cumbre. It is a kind of comedy of tangles about three twenty-something Rosario women from the eighties; with a cast headed by Julieta Cardinali, Romina Ricci and Leonora Balcarce.

The film revolves around the idea of the passage of time within a group of friendly people, and investigates human relationships when confidence pacts are broken, when betrayed; what about solidarity? I think that the years do a task of deramatizing things and try to show through the absurd, how much you suffer for not having the right perspective.

Fito Páez

Critics did not hesitate to compare it with the aesthetics of some works by Pedro Almodóvar, highlighting the good acting work and an effective script. It only lasted a little over a week on the billboards of the most important cinemas in the Argentine capital, reaching eighth place on the box office list, with an audience of close to 10,500 spectators.

In 2009, director Fernando Rubio ―produced by Gastón Pauls― filmed Las manos al piano, a detailed work on Fito Páez's love relationship with the piano; In addition, it presents aspects of his life and his family. The documentary was premiered within the 31st edition of the New Latin American Film Festival, in Havana and was recorded while he was producing the album Rodolfo (2007) in his own house.

In 2011 he wrote and directed the video clip Las tremulas canciones, by the Argentine band Estelares, featuring Vera Spinetta and Romina Ricci.

Private life

Couples

Fito Páez has had four formal sentimental relationships, two children (Martín and Margarita Páez), all have been linked to the artistic world. Despite the breaks with Fabiana Cantilo, Romina Ricci and Cecilia Roth, he maintains a close and constructive relationship of affection and mutual respect with them, as described by the musician himself.

What I always try with all the people I link to is to stay in good terms. If there's anything good for intelligence, it's for that.

Fito Páez

His first relationship was with the singer Fabiana Cantilo, who accompanied him in the initial creative stage that includes the recording of six studio albums and, at his worst, in the murder of his aunts in Rosario. They met in 1983, when Fito was called to participate in Charly García's band.

Fabiana Cantilo commented that the first time she saw the singer she was surprised by his appearance: «Skinny, long hair, strange face: he was like a swordsman». Later the singer was struck by the personality and creativity of the musician. Cantilo declared years after his separation: "Fito really put up with me and I think I helped him energetically, but our coexistence was a disaster." Fito Páez has referred to it expressing as follows.

She was the most beautiful woman in Buenos Aires, she was a muse, but she also made me suffer a lot. One day he went out and didn't come back all night, I was desperate, at that time I composed "Three Needles". Conflict and war, that was the agenda with Fabi.

Fito Páez

In 1990 they separated, after a breakup announced in the songs on the album Ey! (1988), and later confirmed with the songs "Dale Alegría A Mi Corazón" and "Fue Amor", both from Páez's sixth studio album, Tercer mundo (1990).

In 1991, in the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, Fito Páez met the actress Cecilia Roth, who at that time was a married woman. Eight months later, after the divorce from the actress, the musician began a sentimental relationship that achieved great notoriety.

Roth was my muse, I lit you with his very presence, when I prayed everything was illuminated, it was an intense time, we were living an incredible romance and apart, I was at my best, I was playing and giving concerts; something wonderful, explosive.

Fito Páez

Fito maintained this relationship for nearly ten years and, once the adoption of their son Martín was formalized in 1999, after eight years, they decided to get married. On December 23 of that year, under total secrecy, the couple went to the Civil Registry, after notifying a couple of their acquaintances, and they got married. The party was very intimate, and it took place in the apartment they shared.

It is from that moment that the relationship cools off. In the album Rey sol (2000), several songs herald the beginning of the end, which sharpened in the filming of the movie Vidas Privadas (2001), where the couple began a definitive estrangement that would materialize in 2002.

After separating from Cecilia Roth, he met fellow actress Romina Ricci, 15 years his junior, with whom he had his daughter in 2004, whom they named Margarita in honor of Páez's mother, the pianist Margarita Zulema. Ricci was part of the inspiration for the album El Mundo Cabe En Una Canción (2006), the song "Rollinga O Miranda Girl" it is an allusion to the author's feelings for the actress; just like her 2007 movie where she played the main character. The couple separated three years later.

No one puts up a couple to break up. [...] All separations are traumatic situations. It's things that don't leave you well. But, on the other hand, when one was younger, life was that, what was going on within the loving relationship. Over the years, that's taking the right place, because there are many other interests. Anyway, now that time passed, I guess it must be pretty complicated to be with me.

Fito Páez

Between the beginning of 2012 and the end of 2013, he had a relationship with the lawyer and journalist Julia Mengolini.

Since 2014 he has been in a relationship with the actress Eugenia Kolodziej.

Discography

For its outstanding discography, Fito (2.o) is considered one of the most outstanding figures of Argentine rock, along with emblems such as Charly García, Andrés Calamaro, Luis Alberto Spinetta and León Gieco. Photo of 1984.

Studio Albums

• Of '63. (1984)
• Giros (1985)
• La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la, la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la with Luis Alberto Spinetta (1986)
• City of poor hearts (1987)
• Hey! (1988)
• Third world (1990)
• Love after love (1992)
• Circus Beat (1994)
• Intimate enemies with Joaquín Sabina (1998)
• Open (1999)
• King Sun (2000)
• Nature blood (2003)
• Fashion and village (2005)
• The world fits into a song (2006)
• Rodolfo (2007)
• Trust (2010)
• Songs for aliens (2011)
• The sacrifice (2013)
• Dreaming Rosario (2013)
• I love you (2013)
• Rock and Roll Revolution (2014)
• Total Madness with Paulinho Moska (2015)
• The liberated city (2017)
• The conquest of space (2020)
• The Wild Years (2021)
• Futurology Arlt (2022)
• The Golden Light (2022)

Live Albums

• Euphoria (1996)
• My life with them (2004)
• I don't know if it's Baires or Madrid. (2008)
• Love after love 20 years (2012)

Maxisingles

• Clanstine heart (1986)

Bootlegs

• Café De Las Artes, Baglietto, Páez, Goldin Y Garre (1981).
• Staff EP (1981).
• Chapa y Painting de Páez Vadalá (1990).
• Novel (1990).
• Acoustic (1996).
• Fito en Miami (2001).
• In Rosario (2010).

Filmography

As director and screenwriter

• Donna Helena's bullet (1994)
• Private lives (2001)
• Whose portal is it? (2007)

As an interpreter

• South (1988) by Fernando E. Solanas.
• The journey (1992) by Fernando E. Solanas.
• That's not what you talk about. (1993) by María L. Bemberg.
• Stories of Argentina en vivo (2001) by Cristian Bernard, Israel A. Caetano, Albertina Carri, Eduardo Capilla, Gregorio Cramer, Gabriel J. Fernández, Flavio Nardini, Miguel Pereira, Marcelo Piñeyro, Jorge Polaco, Gustavo Postiglione, Fernando Spiner, Bruno Stagnaro and Andrés Di Tella.
• Make it rock! (2006) by director Sebastián Schindel.
• The movie (2007) by Gustavo Postiglione.
• Compulsive times (2012-2013).

Other film appearances

• Change in All about my mother (1999) by Pedro Almodóvar.

Music Videos

• "Giros" (1985).
• "City of Poor Hearts" (1987).
• "♪ Dancing till the night goes ♪" (1987).
• "Nothing more precious to me" (1987).
• "Dando Vueltas en El Aire" (1987).
• "Smoke in Tabú" (1987).
• "People Without Swing" (1987).
• "To the Stones of Bethlehem" (1987).
• "From 1920" (1987).
• "Violet Amber" (1987).
• "Track" (1987).
• "Just the boys." (1988).
• "For Seven Lifes (Cacery)" (1988).
• "Third World" (1990).
• "It was love." (1990).
• "Tombs of the Glory" (1992).
• "Sasha, Sisy and Baba Circle" (1992).
• "Balada de Donna Helena" (1992).
• "Love after love" (1992).
• "Circus Beat" (1994).
• "Tecknicolor Butterfly" (1994).
• "I'm a hippie." (1994).
• "She's Mine" (1994).
• "Cadáver Exquisito" (1996).
• "11 and 6" (1996).
• "It rains on wet" with Joaquín Sabina (1998).
• "To the side of the road" (1999).
• "Two in the City" (1999).
• "It's just a matter of attitude." (2000).
• "The Devil of Your Heart" (2000).
• "New" (2003).
• "Return to Me" (2003).
• "Beautiful April" (2004).
• "Go crazy" (2006).
• "That's what you're wearing." (2006).
• "If it's love" (2007).
• "The Fourth Side" (2007).
• "Time to Time" (2010).
• "Trust" (2010).
• "London Town" (2010).
• "Ne Me Quitte Pas" (2013).
• "Margarita" (2014).
• "The Song of Soldier and Rosita Pazos" (2014).
• "I'll have to go back to love" (2014).
• "Smile Days, Wine and Flowers" (2015).
• "Brothers"with Paulinho Moska (2015).
• "Hallelujah Al Sol" (2017).
• "Your Life My Life" (2018).
• "Freedom City" (2018).
• "Resurrect"(2020).
• "The Song of the Beasts"(2020).
• "People In The Street"with Lali (2021).
• "The Best Of Our Lives" (2021).
• "The Music of Dreams of Your Youth" (2022).
• "The Wild Years"with Fabiana Cantilo (2022).

Books

• The fucking devil. (2013). Mansalva Editorial.
• Daily travel (2015). Editorial Planeta.
• The days of Kirchner (2018). Editorial Planeta.

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

Latin Grammy Awards

Gardel Music Awards

Konex Awards

Awards and special tributes

Fito Páez received the international Master Of Latin Music award from the Berklee College Of Music, being the first rock musician from Latin America to receive it. The tribute took place on June 9, 2015 in Boston.