Juan Luis Guerra

Juan Luis Guerra Seijas (Santo Domingo, June 7, 1957) is a Dominican singer-songwriter, arranger, musician, music producer and businessman. With a career spanning over 35 years, he has sold more than 30 million records and won numerous awards, including 27 Latin Grammys, two US Grammys, and eleven Latin Billboard Awards; he was honored as a BMI Icon at the 13th edition of the BMI Latin Awards, named 1995 BMI Latin Composer of the Year, Guerra's compositions have won 14 BMI Latin Awards.

His commercial career began with the albums Mudanza y acarreo (1985) and The more I think about it... you (1987). He and his band were nominated to attend the OTI Song Festival and represent the Dominican Republic.

Her next album, Ojalá que llueva café (1989), brought her international recognition. On this album he mixes merengue with smooth melodies and super-fast backing tracks, immediately becoming a hit in many Latin American countries, with the song of the same name as the first single. Subsequently, the video for the song was filmed, and Juan Luis Guerra and his band 4.40 began touring. The song was revived in 1996 and in 2008 with versions by the Mexican band Café Tacuba and the Spanish singer Rosario Flores.

On December 11, 1990, he released his next album, Bachata rosa, which became a huge hit and earned Guerra his first Grammy. The album, which had sold over five million copies at the time, allowed Guerra to hold his own on his tour of Latin America, the United States, and Europe. This album contains memorable love songs such as "Burbujas de amor", "Bachata rosa", "Rosalía", "Como abeja al panal", "A solicitar su mano", "Carta de amor", and "Estrellitas y duendes".

On December 15, 1992, he released his most socially committed album, Areíto (which is a Taino word), and his first hit, "El costo de la vida" (number one on the Hot Latin Tracks, where Guerra was the first tropical music artist to achieve this feat), whose video has a clear message about capitalist economic hegemonies and impositions. Other songs included in this album protest against the bad conditions in many Latin American countries, talk about the celebration of the "discovery" of America and the double standards of First World countries.

In the album Fogaraté (1994), Guerra distanced himself from songs with a critical and social content. This album is especially focused on the more rural and lesser-known musical genres within Dominican music, such as the perico ripiao.

Her album Ni es lo mismo ni es igual (1998) garnered great critical acclaim, winning three Latin Grammy Awards in 2000 for best merengue performance, best tropical song, and best arrangement.. His hits include "Mi PC", "Palomita blanca" and "El Niágara en bicicleta".

In 2007 he was the top recipient of 6 Latin Grammys. He won 3 Latin Grammys in 2010, including & # 39; A son de Guerra & # 39; as album of the year.In 2012, he won a Latin Grammy for Producer of the Year.He was also the top winner at the Latin Grammys in 2015, with three gramophones.

Juan Luis Guerra has been one of the most internationally recognized Latino artists in recent decades. His style of mixing merengue and bolero, and afro-pop/jazz fusion has earned him considerable success throughout Latin America. Guerra is generally associated with the popular Dominican music called bachata, and while this association is partly true, Guerra actually uses the basics of the bachata rhythm but with a more melodic bolero twist. He does not limit himself to one style of music, but incorporates various musical rhythms including merengue, bolero, bachata, ballad, salsa, rock and roll, and even gospel. The song "I hope it rains coffee" is one of his most acclaimed pieces. Guerra also made a remix of the song "La llave de mi corazón" with Taboo by the Black Eyed Peas, as a clear example of his fusion of musical genres.

Early Years

Born Juan Luis Guerra Seijas, he is the son of Gilberto Guerra Pacheco, and Olga Seijas Herrero. He has two brothers, José Gilberto, a plastic surgeon, and Diego Esteban, a business administration graduate.He was a student at the La Salle and Santa Teresita schools, where he stood out for his love of sports. Before becoming interested in music, Guerra studied Philosophy and Literature at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo. He later studied guitar and music theory at the Santo Domingo National Conservatory of Music, and then decided to go to the United States to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Career

After his return to the Dominican Republic, he released his first album, Soplando (1984) with a group of local musicians later to be known as Juan Luis Guerra and 4.40. The members of the group were Maridalia Hernández, Roger Zayas-Bazán and Mariela Mercado. The name of the band is nothing more than a reference to the standard musical tuning called La 440. According to Guerra, this first album is based on jazz melodies and concepts that he had learned at Berklee, and that "it was not destined to be a success". commercial". However, he subsequently began to lean his style more towards merengue. Warner Music re-released the record in 1991 under the title The Original 4.40.

1983-1989

In 1983, after a performance, the Dominican record manager Bienvenido Rodríguez made Juan Luis Guerra sign his first contract for his label Karen Records. This situation also represented a radical turn in his musical style, turning to merengue in his commercial version. In this new stage he recorded the albums, Moving and hauling (1985) and The more I think about it... you (1987). As a consequence of his work, Guerra and his companions begin to gain recognition.

In 1986 he made the video clip "Amor de Conuco", directed by renowned Dominican filmmaker Jean-Louis Jorge, which won a Casandra Award for "Best Video Musical" in that year.

In 1988, during the recording of his album Ojalá que llueva café, the constant changes in the vocalists of the group lead him to become the main figure of his group. This album represents the beginning of the international consecration of Guerra, since it obtained such sales that it was placed in the first place in many Latin American countries, the most promoted songs being the song that gives the album its title, Visa for a dream and the Venezuelan folk song Woman from Callao composed by the Venezuelan Julio Delgado and released first by the group Un Solo Pueblo.

1990-1999

On December 11, 1990, amid many expectations, Guerra presented his next album, Bachata rosa, which was his first album released on CD, and the most successful of his career since the commercial point of view, selling until then about 9 million copies and helping him reach the peak of his popularity at that time. His success made him fill stadiums and arenas to capacity on different stages in Latin America and Europe. Thanks to this album, Juan Luis Guerra obtained his first Grammy award, which earned him being one of the presenters of that year's broadcast, along with the Canadian singer Céline Dion and the American actress Whoopi Goldberg.

In this album, Guerra introduced the world to the bachata genre, until then marginally limited in the Dominican territory. Most of the songs on the album have been around the world for generations.

In 1991, under an agreement with the international label Polygram Records (today called Universal Music), he made a brief foray into the Brazilian market with the album Romance Rosa, which contains 4 songs from his previous album covered in Portuguese language by Brazilian lyricist Aloysio Reis and Spanish tracks from his previous albums with Karen Records. At the same time, he composes again for another artist: the Mexican Emmanuel for whom he writes the song No he pudo verte and orchestrates the traditional Dominican song Jarro pichao, both of which appeared on his album Life (1990).

In 1991, Juan Luis Guerra won the Casandra Award, and together with his group 4.40 they received four more statuettes in the seventh installment of the act that was directed by the filmmaker Jean Louis Jorge

In his next album, Areíto (1992), with the theme The cost of living, he spoke about the poor living conditions of many Dominicans and Latin Americans. In this album, Guerra, in addition to oppositional songs, such as Si de aquí salira petróleo (with the participation of Panamanian Rubén Blades) experiments with musicians from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra to produce the sentimental song When I kiss you in two versions, in addition to being backed by the American Boy Choir group ('American boy singers') on the song Naboria Daca Mayamimacaná, the only one written in the language of the disappeared Taíno ethnic group.

Supported by sales of some 5 million copies, the Areito tour in 1993 maintained its popularity in Latin America and consolidated it in Europe, making an immense tour throughout Spain and appearing in places like Portugal and the Netherlands, where he filled the capacity of the popular Ahoy.

Guerra mentioned that at that time he used to take sleeping pills and had a void of peace that the laurels he had received did not fill. The continuous tours, he mentions, sometimes did not give him time to find out what country he was in. ^{[citation needed ]}

Before the release of Areito, the Dominican musician Manuel Tejada decided to pay homage to Juan Luis Guerra by compiling 15 of his well-known hits at that time, and recording them with members of the Santo Domingo Philharmonic Orchestra and choristers and musicians who had previously worked with Guerra. This album went on sale in May 1992 under the title La Música de Juan Luis Guerra.

Her next album, Fogaraté (1994), spearheaded the song La cosquillita, rescuing the fast folkloric merengue known as perico ripiao alongside accordionist Francisco Ulloa and his ensemble. He also fused merengue with South African soukous ( Fogaraté , The kiss of the ciguatera ), sharing the album with the best guitarist from Congo, Diblo Dibala. This album featured the first song from Guerra sung entirely in English, titled July 19th. This record had a limited commercial response, good for most artists, but not up to the high standard set by Guerra on his previous 3 albums. During the promotion of the album, Guerra only did 2 concerts (in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in 1995). Previously, he participated as a guest at the Sanremo Festival, in Italy.

In 1995 Guerra temporarily withdrew from the stage. In June he founded a radio station called Viva FM and a television channel, Mango TV , through which he intended to broadcast the best musical talents in his country. Coinciding with Guerra's adherence to Christianity, the television channel was leased in 2003 to an American Protestant network.

In 1995 the compilation Greatest Hits was released, obtaining a great response: 7 million sales around the world.

After 4 years of recording silence, Guerra presents the album Ni es lo mismo ni es igual (1998) with which he won three awards in 2000 at the first broadcast of the Latin Grammys. With this album, Juan Luis placed the songs Mi PC and Palomita blanca consecutively in the #1 spot of the well-known Hot Latin Tracks of Billboard magazine. However, Bicycle Niagara was the most popular song on that album.

In the next few years, Guerra limited himself to doing sporadic concerts in various countries, gradually reintegrating himself on stage.

2000-2009

Juan Luis Guerra at a concert in Madrid (Spain) during his celebration tour Tour 20 Yearsin 2005.

On February 6, 2001, the compilation Colección romántica, the best of Guerra's ballads and bachatas, went on sale, including four versions of his own songs, highlighting Quisiera (originally recorded in salsa rhythm) in a soft-rock version and the ballad Tú (originally in merengue), which was playing on the radio in 1987.

On August 31, 2004, Guerra released his first album in six years under the title Para ti; the songs on the album are mostly religious in nature, reflecting Guerra's fervent Christianity. With this album, the singer won two awards at Billboards 2005, in the categories of Gospel-Pop and Tropical Merengue, for the hit "Las avispas", the first time that a song won these two categories at the same time. Other hits include "For You" and "Soldado." At the same time, Guerra was awarded the Premio Especial Latino from the Spanish Academy of Music for his contribution to the music of his country and the Caribbean in the last 20 years.

In 2005 Guerra closed his presentation tour in December in Santo Domingo.

In January 2006, Juan Luis Guerra performed at Berklee's 60th anniversary, along with other artists such as Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock, Michel Camilo and Chiara Civello. That same year, he recorded with Diego Torres the song "Abriendo caminos" and with Maná in "Bendita tu luz". He was part of the former highest-grossing music tour of all time (U2's 360 tour is currently the highest-grossing music tour of all time) as he was the opening act for The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang Tour, Made in San Juan, Puerto Rico in February 2006.

On April 6, 2006, Juan Luis Guerra, was honored as a BMI Icon at the 13th BMI Latin Awards, named BMI Latino Composer of the Year 1995, Guerra's compositions have won 14 BMI Latin Awards. He was also invited by Sting to sing with him at a concert in Altos de Chavón, La Romana in the Dominican Republic in 2006.

At the 2007 Lo Nuestro Awards, he was presented with the honorary lifetime achievement award. The first single from his new album La llave de mi corazón, released on March 20, 2007, was also presented. Guerra won more than 20 awards with this album, including 5 Latin Grammy Awards, 6 Casandra Awards, 4 Billboard Awards, 2 Lo Nuestro and a Grammy Award. Juan Luis Guerra was awarded at the Latin Grammy Awards in 2007 with 5 awards, sweeping each category he was nominated for: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Tropical Song and Best Merengue Album. His creators: Allan Leschhorn, Luis Mansilla, Ronnie Torres and Adam Ayan were also awarded. The night before the Latin Grammy Awards, Guerra received the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year award for his contribution to Latin music and his philanthropy. On October 2, 2007, EMI Televisa Music presented a special version of "La llave de mi corazón", with all the songs from the original CD and including a version of the title track, in Portuguese, a DVD disc with the videos corresponding to the songs “Qué me des tu cariño” and “Medicine for my soul” with Taboo, a member of the American group Black Eyed Peas.

On March 10, 2008, Juan Luis Guerra was awarded 6 prizes at the Casandra Awards, the most important awards event in the Dominican Republic. He won for Orchestra of the Year, Outstanding Artist Abroad, Musical Album of the Year for La llave de mi corazón and El Soberano, the most important award of the night. On March 16, 2008, he and other artists participated in the Paz Sin Fronteras concert organized by Juanes, celebrating the end of the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis between Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. On April 11, 2008, Juan Luis Guerra was the big winner of the Latin Billboard, with 7 nominations and 3 awards. On September 15, 2008, Guerra was named a UNESCO Artist for Peace by UNESCO in recognition of his efforts to benefit children with disabilities and children in need.

On February 14, 2009, at the Félix Sánchez Olympic Stadium in Santo Domingo, he gave a presentation that filled the country's largest stadium with 60,000 people. On May 9, 2009, Guerra was awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, Berklee College of Music at his graduation ceremony. That same year, he collaborated with the Canadian singer Nelly Furtado on her album entirely in Spanish, Mi Plan, on the song "Como lluvia".

2010

On March 1, 2010, Guerra released the official video for his new single Bachata en Fukuoka. The video, filmed in different locations in the city of Los Angeles, was directed by the acclaimed Colombian director Simón Brand. On June 8, 2010, Guerra released the album A son de Guerra which contains nine musical rhythms such as son, bachata, merengue, bolero, mambo, funk, rock, jazz, reggae and includes the collaboration of the singer Juanes among others. The album contains hits like "La guagua", "La calle" (with Juanes), and "Bachata en Fukuoka".

The first single from his new production, "Bachata en Fukuoka", reached #1 on Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks, Tropical Songs and Latin Pop Airplay Songs charts. Simultaneously, Guerra's collaboration on the song Cuando me enamoro by Enrique Iglesias was in position #2 on the Rhythm Airplay Chart. At the same time, he also participated in two versions of the songs Gracias a la Vida by Violeta Parra and of Que cante la vida de Alberto Plaza, along with various artists to benefit those affected by the 2010 Chilean earthquake. Guerra was also the first named host for the La Pepa concert on the MTV network Made in San Fernando, Cádiz, Spain.

Juan Luis Guerra, Concert in Santo Domingo, 2012

In January 2012, the video for his new single There is no hospital in heaven, with Christian content, premiered on YouTube. Said song belonged to the new musical production of the Dominican Colección Cristiana, an album of songs with religious content that was put on sale in 2012. That same year, he collaborated with the Spanish singer Miguel Bosé on his album Papitwo, which was released on September 3, in the song "Creo en ti", belonging to the first stage of Bosé's artistic career, renewing it and giving it his unique bachata touch from the music of Guerra.

On April 18, 2010, Juan Luis Guerra organized the benefit concert "A Song of Hope for Haiti" on the occasion of the earthquake that devastated that country, managing to bring together Alejandro Sanz, Juanes, Enrique Iglesias, Luis Fonsi, Jhonny Ventura, Milly Quezada and Maridalia Hernández on the same stage. The purpose of this event was the construction of a children's hospital, which would be delivered in early 2015. This concert was coordinated by the Fundación Sur Futuro, the entity in charge of managing the funds and supervising the construction of the work.

On June 8, 2010, he released the album “A son de guerra”. The album contains hits like “La Guagua,” “La Calle” (with Juanes), and “Bachata en Fukuoka”, the first single from this new production, which reached #1 on the Hot Latin Tracks charts. Tropical Songs and Latin Pop Airplay Songs from Billboard.

This production takes him on a successful tour around the world, which included his time in Australia, Africa and a large part of Europe, standing out for his “sold out” presentation at the legendary Royal Albert Hall in London, England, considered one of the most emblematic theaters in the world.

Guerra was also the first named host for the MTV5 concert La Pepa held in San Fernando, Cádiz, Spain.

On April 16, 2013, he released his first live double album "A Son de Guerra Tour" DVD and CD, extracted from the concert of the same name held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, before more than 50,000 people, debuting in the first position of digital sales in more than 16 countries simultaneously.

Her first single released, “Frío Frío”, features Romeo Santos, automatically becoming a radio hit in the main Latin markets. The success of this DVD returns to Juan Luis Guerra & 4.40 to the stages of the world, including once again by the Dominican Republic in Punta Cana, with a successful concert to a full house, sharing the stage with Alejandro Sanz.

Throughout his successful career he has collaborated with artists such as Tony Bennet, Alejandro Sanz, Luis Fonsi, Milly Quezada, Enrique Iglesias, Emmanuel, Juanes, Miguel Bosé, Maná, Diego Torres, Nelly Furtado, among others.

In 2014, preceded by the release of his first single “Tus Besos,” he released his album Todo Tiene Su Hora, receiving an exceptional reception both by his fans around the world, and by the specialized press. From this production, the songs “Tus Besos,” “Todo Tiene Su Hora” and “Muchachita Linda” have already been heard insistently.

These songs like “Cookies & Cream” with social content to the rhythm of merengue, “Para Que Sepas” a beautiful and innovative son and “De Moca a París” a song that features the living legend of merengue Johnny Ventura. Another song to highlight is "Canto a Colombia" inspired by and dedicated to the Colombian people.

With the success of the first single “Tus Besos” the “Todo Tiene Su Hora Tour” begins at the beginning of July, with an extraordinary reception in its first European leg, leaving the sign Sold Out in cities like Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, the Canary Islands and other locations, performing in front of more than 60 thousand people in the main European cities. The same is repeated in Miami, Puerto Rico and New York, with seats sold to full capacity, repeating the feat in Panama, Costa Rica and El Salvador.

Todo Tiene Su Hora, received other recognitions, such as Gold, Platinum and Diamond Records in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Peru, after sales of over 800,000 copies.

In November, “Todo Tiene Su Hora” is in the news again, receiving 4 Latin GRAMMY nominations, of which 3 of them win: Best Tropical Song for “Tus Besos”, Best Tropical Album for “ Todo Tiene Su Hora” and the highest award “Best Album of the Year,” for “Todo Tiene Su Hora.”

On November 5, 2017, the “Todo Tiene Su Hora Tour” officially closes with a monumental reception from the Dominican public at the Presidente Festival, in front of more than 50,000 people.

“Todo Tiene Su Hora Tour” visited more than 25 countries, for a total of 53 concerts and over 550,000 people around the world.

In Tenerife, Spain, on Saturday March 9, Juan Luis Guerra is received with overflowing joy and affection, managing to break all attendance records at the Tenerife Festival, summoning more than 400,000 people at the closing of the legendary festival.

In 2019 during the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in Spain, Juan Luis Guerra surpassed the record set in 1987 by Celia Cruz by gathering more than 400,000 people as the largest congregation of people in an outdoor plaza to attend to a concert.

The creativity and musical variety of Juan Luis Guerra's work has placed him as the most universal Dominican artist. With his word, his music and his life, he has led the promotion of the highest values of Dominicanness.

As a composer for other artists

In 1988, he made his debut as a composer for other artists such as his compatriot Taty Salas, for whom he composed the song "De tu boca", with which he participated in the now-defunct OTI Song Festival, remaining among the first 3 places. Also noteworthy are the compositions made for the Mexican artists Emmanuel ("No he pudo verte", recorded in 1990) and Luis Miguel ("Hasta que me olvides" from 1993 and "Te I need' from 2003). He also composed the song "I propose to you" for the group Miriam y sus Chicas. and that would later make salsa singer Gilberto Santa Rosa successful in 1994.

Recordings in other languages

Guerra has recorded several songs in Portuguese, English, such as «July 19th» ―from his album Fogaraté―, also «Medicine for my soul», with Taboo (member of the group Black Eyed Peas) and “Something good” with Italian singer Chiara Civello, both songs from her album The Key to My Heart, Caribbean Blues from her album A son de Guerra. Some of her songs have verses in English and Spanish such as "Woman del Callao", "Guavaberry", "Señorita" and "La llave de mi corazón". Juan Luis Guerra also recorded the album Romance Rosa completely in Portuguese.

Musical style

Being Dominican, his music is heavily influenced by native African Caribbean rhythms such as merengue, rock, jazz, mambo, gospel, and bachata.

Her lyrics are often intentionally simple, highly metaphorical, erotic, or popular expressions, such as "Love Bubbles." His lyrics also question the political system, but from a deeply human perspective, that is, the lyrics focus on the human drama generated by social injustice. This can be seen in "Visa for a Dream" where he tells of the Dominican's broken hope and his desire to seek the American dream. "El Niágara en bicicleta" clearly reflects the negligence in public health services and "The cost of living", talks about the effects of global capitalism on people or "Accompany me civil" that tells about the police and military corruption that leads mistreatment of the people they have to care for.

Discography

Compilation albums

Live albums

Simple

Collaborations

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

Latin Grammy Awards

Personal life

Juan Luis Guerra considers himself a very shy person, a condition that he has had to overcome over time. In the early 1980s, Guerra met Nora Clementina Altagracia Vega Rasuk, a design student, with whom he had a relationship. four years of courtship before getting married. The couple have 2 children, Jean Gabriel and Paulina.

In 1992, Juan Luis, although raised and educated as a Catholic, converted to Protestantism and in 2004 he took a turn in his career and began composing evangelical songs.

Philanthropy

In 1991, Guerra created Fundación 4.40, aimed at those most in need in the Dominican Republic. Then in 1999 it changed its name to Fundación Juan Luis Guerra.

On March 16, 2008, he participated together with Juanes, Miguel Bosé, Carlos Vives, Chayanne, Cristian Castro, Sin Bandera, Alejandro Sanz, Juan Fernando Velasco and Ricardo Montaner in the concert "Peace without borders", on the border between Colombia and Venezuela.

On October 17, 2008, he participated as a UNESCO "goodwill ambassador" in one of the most important events in Latin America of the campaign "Stand Up and Take Action against Poverty and for the Millennium Development Goals", in Bávaro (Dominican Republic), during the International Conference of the Americas. There, together with more than 2,500 young people from all over the hemisphere, he read the Dominican Declaration for the Campaign, at the event organized by the Dominican Association of the United Nations (ANU-RD) and the Fundación Global Democracy and Development (FUNGLODE), and which had the support of the Department of Public Information of the United Nations. He was accompanied by high-level UN officials and Dominican swimmer Marcos Díaz, as well as local campaign authorities. His participation had international coverage due to the content of the declaration, which asked world leaders to address the problems that prevent the development of peoples.

In January 2010, Juan Luis Guerra joined a group of personalities from the Dominican Republic in the telethon called Long live the country for Haiti, led by the Dominican presenter Jatnna Tavárez. On April 18 of the same year, Juan Luis Guerra organized the concert A Song of Hope for Haiti in order to build a children's hospital in Haiti. It was a complete success and the place became a giant nightclub to the rhythm of merengue, bachata, pop and rock. Guerra was the first on stage with his merengues "La Travesía", "A ask for his hand" and "Las avispas", although in the end he returned with three more songs: "Como yo", "Bachata en Fukuoka" and "El farolito ». 40,000 people attended this concert, in which Laura Pausini, Sin Bandera, Alejandro Sanz, Miguel Bosé, Luis Fonsi, Juanes, Enrique Iglesias, among other artists, also performed. For the grand closing, the protagonists took the stage and sang the classic "I hope it rains coffee", composed by Guerra and holding the intertwined Dominican and Haitian flags in their hands.

In February 2019, Juan Luis Guerra participated in a humanitarian concert on the border between Colombia and Venezuela, Banda La Trakalosa concert that was held in order to collect funds for the Venezuelan country due to the political and humanitarian crisis they are facing.