Alejandro Sanz, born Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro on December 18, 1968 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. Throughout his career, he has released a total of ten studio albums and six DVDs. The singer is noted for his flamenco-influenced ballads, but he has also experimented with rock, salsa, and hip hop.
Born in Madrid, Sanz began playing guitar at age seven, taking influence from his family's 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 Tú 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" reached number one on several charts worldwide. 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.
To promote his new record, Paraíso Express, Sanz started 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 November 10, 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 that "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 Songs chart. At the 2010 Latin Grammy Awards, the album was nominated Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Album, while the single "Desde Cuándo" received both Record and Song of the Year nominations. On February 15, 2011, Sanz announced that he would be signing with Universal Music Group after twenty years with Warner.
Musical style
Sanz is known for his distinctive raspy vocals, which he attributes to his flamenco roots, crediting singer Camarón de la Isla as a major influence.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. Throughout his youth, Sanz was heavily influenced by English-language heavy metal groups such as Iron Maiden and Dio, referring to himself as a "heavy metal radical". He also feels that living in the city of Cadiz had a major impact on his musical style, where "Any 7-year-old kid you find knows how to play guitar, play the cajón, knows how to sing. When the family comes together we start to sing. In a way it's not just music, it's culture.
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. While recording the album, he noted that he often entered the studio with a rough idea for a song and the guest artists would "contaminate it with their rhythms...in a good way. El Tren de los Momentos continued this pattern of musical experimentation, 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.
Personal life
Sanz married Mexican fashion model and actress Jaydy Michel 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."[39] The couple separated 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. Sanz chose flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía to be the godfather to his son. Sanz and Perera are godparents to David Bisbal's daughter, Ella. On May 23, 2012, Sanz married Raquel Perera in a private ceremony in Barcelona.
In addition to music, Sanz enjoys painting, which he often does while trying to create ideas for new songs.[44] He explains that painting "teaches you that taking risks rarely leads to failure. In fact, from the moment you assume a risk, you have succeeded.
Sanz was born in Madrid, Spain, on December 18, 1968, the youngest son of María Pizarro and Jesús Sánchez. He grew up in the high-crime neighborhood of Moratalaz in eastern Madrid. Sanz recalled that "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.
Born in Madrid, Sanz began playing guitar at age seven, taking influence from his family's 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 Tú 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" reached number one on several charts worldwide. 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.
To promote his new record, Paraíso Express, Sanz started 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 November 10, 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 that "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 Songs chart. At the 2010 Latin Grammy Awards, the album was nominated Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Album, while the single "Desde Cuándo" received both Record and Song of the Year nominations. On February 15, 2011, Sanz announced that he would be signing with Universal Music Group after twenty years with Warner.
Musical style
Sanz is known for his distinctive raspy vocals, which he attributes to his flamenco roots, crediting singer Camarón de la Isla as a major influence.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. Throughout his youth, Sanz was heavily influenced by English-language heavy metal groups such as Iron Maiden and Dio, referring to himself as a "heavy metal radical". He also feels that living in the city of Cadiz had a major impact on his musical style, where "Any 7-year-old kid you find knows how to play guitar, play the cajón, knows how to sing. When the family comes together we start to sing. In a way it's not just music, it's culture.
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. While recording the album, he noted that he often entered the studio with a rough idea for a song and the guest artists would "contaminate it with their rhythms...in a good way. El Tren de los Momentos continued this pattern of musical experimentation, 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.
Personal life
Sanz married Mexican fashion model and actress Jaydy Michel 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."[39] The couple separated 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. Sanz chose flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía to be the godfather to his son. Sanz and Perera are godparents to David Bisbal's daughter, Ella. On May 23, 2012, Sanz married Raquel Perera in a private ceremony in Barcelona.
In addition to music, Sanz enjoys painting, which he often does while trying to create ideas for new songs.[44] He explains that painting "teaches you that taking risks rarely leads to failure. In fact, from the moment you assume a risk, you have succeeded.
Sanz was born in Madrid, Spain, on December 18, 1968, the youngest son of María Pizarro and Jesús Sánchez. He grew up in the high-crime neighborhood of Moratalaz in eastern Madrid. Sanz recalled that "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.
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