Manu Chao, born June 21st 1961 as José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao, has become one of Europe's best-known contemporary musicians. Legendary Latin alternative artist and former Mano Negra frontman Manu Chao has forged a successful solo career around a unique brand of Iberoamerican folk, ska, regga and rock. His lyrics reflect a political engagement with the anti-globalisation movements and he is an outspoken critic of US foreign policy, especially under the Bush regime. He currently resides in Barcelona.
Manu Chao was born to Spanish parents in Paris and has long used his cross-cultural surroundings and background as inspiration for his music. An offspring of the French alternative scene, Manu Chao formed his first major band, Mano Negra, in the mid-1980’s. They exploded onto the music scene and quickly acquired international acclaim for their innovative albums and explosive live shows.
Following the split of Mano Negra in 1995, Manu Chao traveled to Madrid and formed Radio Bemba with local musicians and soon after decided to go solo as Manu Chao. He began collaborating with musicians from diverse backgrounds and sought inspiration from street culture and local bar scenes. The end result was his debut solo album entitled "Clandestino."
"Clandestino", released in 1998, was a highly personal album, recorded with a tiny portable studio in which Manu Chao kept as a type of musical 'diary' of his travels. Mixing computer sound effects and street sounds with simple acoustic guitar, Manu Chao created an album with predominantly Spanish lyrics that ultimately produced a strong Latino 'roots' feel. "Clandestino” became one of France’s top-selling albums and one of the best-selling French albums abroad establishing itself as one of the best-selling albums in French music history with sales totaling 2.5 million.
Chao released a second album, "Proxima Estacion: Esperanza", in 2001 once again topping the European charts and also receiving attention from international media with Rolling Stone naming “Esperanza” one of the best albums of the year and Manu Chao also making the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Manu Chao began touring extensively, bringing his unique blend of musical styles and languages to sold-out crowds around the world.
In 2002, Manu Chao released "Radio Bemba Sound System", a live album paying tribute to Radio Bemba, and offering a reflection of the atmosphere during the tour. Following the "Radio Bemba Sound System" tour, Manu focused on producing albums for various artists including Malian duo Amadou & Mariam.
Meanwhile, he was also hard at work on a new album “Sibérie m'était contée”, an acoustic-flavored album with lyrics in French. The album, which was released with a book featuring drawings by Wozniak, found Manu Chao moving away from Latin American influences and concentrating on winter in Paris.
Throughout the success of his career, Manu Chao has remained true to his anti-establishment principles and continues to mix music and politics by performing at events that promote anti-globalization efforts. He continues to tour around the world playing to sold-out crowds in Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico and Central and South America in the past year. He also made a return to U.S. soil after a few years absence playing several dates across the country last summer.
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