El nueve de julio/July 9th

-
Photo from sacm.org.mx.
Click HERE. 
¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Jesús Navarro Rosas! (1986-      )

The lead vocalist for the Mexican group Reik, which first became popular in 2005, Navarro was born in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. He began singing in church when he was six years old and soon after learned to play the piano. Reik, formed by Navarro and bandmates Julio Ramírez Eguía (guitar/background vocals) and Gilberto Marín (guitar), has been extremely successful in Mexico in the United States, with their first single, Yo Quisiera, reaching number one. They have a total of five studio albums: Reik (2005), Secuencia (2006), Un día más (2008), Peligro (2011), and Des/Amor (2016). They also have two live albums, Sesión Metropolitana (2006) and En vivo desde el auditorio nacional (2013). Un día más won a Latin Grammy for Best Pop Album by a Duo or Group in 2009. Click HERE for Navarro's biography (in Spanish), and HERE to see their latest video, Me niego, a collaboration with Wisin and Ozuna. **Interesting side note, Reik first formed when producer Abelardo Vásquez (father of the three members of popular Mexican group Vásquez Sounds) invited them to record demos in 2003.

For a Spanish lesson on present tense verbs using Reik's song Yo quisiera, click HERE

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

El veintidós de agosto/August 22nd

-
Image
Photo from wavenespapers.com. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Ricardo Hurtado! (1999-      ) An actor and musician who became famous playing Freddy on the Nickelodeon series School of Rock , Hurtado was born to Nicaraguan parents in Miami. He moved with his family to Atlanta, Georgia when he was one years old. Hurtado's father is a musician (a piano player with a degree in music from the University of Georgia). "Everyone on my dad's side of the family is a musician," he told an interviewer in 2016, adding that his uncle played the guitar. In the same interview , Hurtado talks about his faith and says, "My main goal in life if to be as close as I can be to God." He wrote his first song for this purpose -- his second song was about a breakup. Listen to Hurtado speak Spanish at this 2017 interview outside the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.
Read more

El siete de enero/January 7th

-
Image
¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Juan Gabriel (Alberto Aguilera Valadez)! (1950-2016) "Music is mankind's way of thanking the universe for letting us be here." -Juan Gabriel       Photo from Billboard's write-up on Juan Gabriel's cover       of Creedence Clearwater's Have You Ever Seen    The Rain? (Gracias al sol) several months  before his death.  Click  HERE   to read and listen.  A Mexican singer, songwriter, and actor, and "the actual king of Latin pop" who was idolized by younger performers such as Marc Anthony, Juan Gabriel was adored by fans worldwide. He put out some 2,000 songs during his lifetime and sold out multiple concerts. He was not always as well-known by English-language speakers in the U.S., however, and Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez's wonderful 1999 profile of him in the  L.A. Times  (updated when he died in 2016 -- click  HERE  to read) includes a story about a West Hollywood a...
Read more

El diez de julio/July 10th

-
Image
Photo from El Porvenir. Click HERE .  ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Nicolás Guillén! (1902-1989) A Cuban poet, journalist, political activist, and writer of African-European descent, Guillén was known during his life as the National Poet of Cuba. Born in Camagüey, he was the oldest of six children born to Nicolás Guillén y Urra, who had fought for Cuban independence from Spain, and Argelia Batista y Arrieta. Guillén's father belonged to the Partido Libertad and founded the daily newspaper La Libertad to express his views. Government forces assassinated Guillén's father for protesting electoral fraud and closed down his printing press. After that, Guillén's family struggled financially. Guillén was greatly influenced by meeting African-American poet Langston Hughes in 1930. Hughes' enthusiasm for Afro-Cuban music inspired Guillén, who was familiar with 'son' music from his father. Hughes immediately recognized the similarities between son music in Cuba and the b...
Read more