Juan Luis Guerra is a popular Dominican musician who writes and performs Latin American merengue, salsa and bachata music.
Childhood and youth Juan Luis Guerra
The future artist was born on June 7, 1957 in Santo Domingo (in the capital of the Dominican Republic), in a wealthy family of a professional basketball player.
From an early age, he showed interest in music and acting. The boy sang in the choir, played in the school theater, wrote music and did not part with the guitar.
Having received a secondary education, Guerra entered the capital's university, where for a year he learned the basics of philosophy and literature. However, after graduating from the first year, Juan Luis took the documents from the university and transferred to the conservatory.
In his student years, the performer was an ardent admirer of the musical genre nueva trova (“new song”), the founders of which were Cuban musicians Pablo Milanes and Silvio Rodriguez.
After graduating from a university in his homeland, a graduate in 1982 left for the United States. He entered the Berklee College of Music (in Boston) on a grant to become a professional composer and arranger.
Here the man not only received a specialty that has become a matter of life, but also met his future wife.
She became a student named Nora Vega. The couple lived in a happy marriage for several decades and raised two children. The singer dedicated the song to his beloved woman: Ay! Mujer, Me Enamoro De Ella.
The beginning of the career of Juan Luis Guerra
Two years later, returning to the Dominican Republic, Juan Luis Guerra assembled a group of local musicians called "440". The ensemble, in addition to Guerra, included: Roger Zayas-Bazan, Maridalia Hernandez, Mariela Mercado.
After Maridalia Hernandez left for solo "swimming", new members joined the line-up: Marco Hernandez and Adalgisa Pantaleon.
Most of the group's songs are created by its founder. The texts of Juan Luis Guerra are written in poetic language, replete with metaphors and other turns of speech.
This greatly complicates their translation into other languages. The vast majority of the artist's work is dedicated to the homeland and fellow countrymen.
The first year of the group's work turned out to be very productive and the debut album Soplando was released.
The next two collections Mudanza y Acarreo and Mientras Más Lo Pienso… Tú did not receive significant distribution abroad, but found many fans in their homeland.
The next disc Ojalá Que Llueva Café, which was released in 1988, literally "blew up" the musical world of Latin America.
It was first in the charts for a long time, a video clip was shot for the title track of the album, and the soloists of the 440 group went on a large-scale concert tour.
The next album of Bachatarosa, released two years later, repeated the success of its predecessor.
Thanks to him, Juan Luis Guerra received the prestigious Grammy Music Award from the American National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
The record revolutionized the formation of the relatively young genre of Latin American music bachata, glorifying the singer as one of its founders.
After recording the album, which was sold around the world with a circulation of 5 million copies, the musicians of the 440 group set off with concert programs in the cities of Latin America, the USA and Europe.
A turning point in my career
With the release of the new music collection Areíto in 1992, the audience was divided into two camps.
Some, as before, idolized the talent of Juan Luis Guerra. Others were shocked by the harsh form in which the musician expressed his negative attitude towards the plight of his compatriots.
The shock was also caused by his speech against the lavish events to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of part of the world. This contributed to the beginning of discrimination against the indigenous population, and criticism of the dishonest policies of the world's largest countries.
For his eloquent statements, the musician paid a high price - the video clip for the song El Costo de la Vida was banned from broadcast in a number of countries around the world.
Then the artist became more circumspect in expressing his public position and rehabilitated himself a little in the eyes of the general public.
His subsequent albums Fogaraté (1995) and Ni Es Lo Mismo Ni Es Igual (1998) were hugely popular. The latter was awarded three Grammy awards.
Juan Luis Guerra now
After the composition Ni Es Lo Mismo Ni Es Igual, there was a break in the artist's creative biography that lasted 6 years.
In 2004, a new disc Para Ti was released. During the years of calm, the Dominican joined the ranks of evangelical Christians. The change in the worldview of a man is heard in his new compositions.
The very next year after the release of the album, the artist became the unique owner of two awards at once, the weekly American magazine dedicated to the music industry, Billboard: Gospel Pop for the collection and Tropical Merengue for the single Las Avispas.
In the same year, the Spanish Academy of Music recognized the musician's contributions to the development of Spanish and Caribbean musical art over the past two decades.
Fruitful was for Juan Luis Guerra and 2007. In March, he released the compilation La Llave De Mi Corazón, and in November, Archivo Digital 4.4.
