Bio

Alejandro Sanz is Spain's most commercially

successful singer of all time having sold over

21 million albums worldwide. He has won more

Latin Grammys than any other artist (14) and

in 2004 he won his first regular Grammy for his

album No Es Lo Mismo.

Alejandro Sanz was born Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro on

the 18th of December 1968. He was born in Madrid, Spain

to Maria Pizarro and Jesús Sánchez, both of whom are

Andalusians. In 2002 he was named adopted son of

his fathers city, Algeciras. In 2005 his father died. 'It's been

the biggest hit I've ever taken in my life. I still sit down to

watch a football game  and I've got to look around to see that

he's not there.'  

Alejandro's father played guitar professionally

for various bands in Spain and he was obviously

a significant influence on him. Alejandro began

playing guitar at the age of seven and started

writing his own songs at the age of ten. As a

teenager he performed for his neighbours and at

local venues. Although he intended to be a

musician he took business management classes

to please his parents.

In the late eighties he signed his first record contract with

Spanish label Hispavox under the name Alejandro Magno.

The album Los Chulos Son Pa' Cuidarlos was ignored and

is now a collector's item. In 1991 he became Alejandro Sanz

and signed a contract with Warner Music Latina, the label 

with which he has remained. His debut album Viviendo de

Prisa was a number one hit in Spain and catapultated him to

fame. His following 3 albums - Si Tu Me Miras (1993),

Basico (1993) and 3 (1995) - all spawned hit singles and

reached platinum status many times over in Spain. At this

time Alejandro was characterised as a teen idol but his 

next album would transcend his core female audience and 

change the course of his career.

Mas was released in 1997 and, driven by the massive hit 

single Corazon Partío, became the biggest selling Spanish

album of all time. It stayed in the album chart for 77 weeks,

26 of which were spent at number 1. At two of Spain's

biggest awards ceremonies, Premios Amigo and Premios

Ondas, he received awards for best national artist, best

composer and the best album for Mas as well as best single

and best video for Corazón Partío. In 1999 he was

recognised as the Best Selling Spanish Artist at the

World Music Awards.

In the year 2000 he released El Alma al Aire which

became the fastest selling Spanish album ever,

selling one million copies in one week. The following

year he became the first Spanish singer to perform

for MTV unplugged and the CD of that performance

won the 2002 Latin Grammy for Album of the Year.

His next album No Es Lo Mismo was considered 

stylistically different from his previous work, with a 

more urban, harder-hitting sound that reflected his own 

musical interests. 'There's always a need to transcend

the fear of not selling such and such many copies of 

the album and remember that what's most important is to

just feel good about the music I make in this life of mine'.

Although he has always written his own lyrics and music

this was the first album where he also worked as a producer.

No Es Lo Mismo earned him a Grammy for Best Latin

Pop Album.

In 2005 he collaborated with Shakira for her song La

Tortura. The song became the most successful spanish

speaking song of all time and was voted the fifth favourite

song of the world in a global survey done by Sony Eriksson.

The video is one of the few done entirely in Spanish to

receive considerable play on music channels in English

speaking countries. Shakira and Alejandro's performance 

at the MTV Music Awards marked the first time a song was

performed on the show in another language. La Tortura

has helped to increase his exposure in America. 'There

were people who thought how great it was that she had my

collaboration but, of course, I maintained that we'd see who

was doing the favour for whom, and that's how it turned out'.

In 2006 he released his latest album El Tren de los 

Momentos. The first single A la Primera Persona was

a massive hit and was his first song ever to break into

the Billboard Hot 100 chart in America. The album

includes a second collaboration with Shakira, Te Lo

Agradezco Pero No, which was another hit single for

the pair.

Alejandro recently made the news when his show

in Venezuela was cancelled because he had criticised

Hugo Chavez in his last visit there. In 2008 he won his 

second Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album for El Tren

De Los Momentos.