* En anglais uniquement
Mexican singer/songwriter
Julieta Venegas established initially established herself as a cutting-edge Latin alternative artist during the late '90s, before her career shifted direction significantly with her third album,
Sí (2003), a broadly appealing pop/rock effort graced with genuine hits, including a couple chart-toppers. In the wake of her 2003 breakthrough,
Venegas didn't look back. Her next album,
Limón y Sal (2006), was just as broadly appealing as its predecessor, and it was an even bigger hit, spawning several major hits and finding success in Western Europe as well as the Americas. Moreover,
Venegas was as acclaimed as she was popular, customarily earning the praise of critics and winning awards, including numerous Grammys. Her musical abilities were sometimes overlooked, for in addition to writing and singing her own songs, she plays numerous instruments, including guitar, accordion, and keyboard.
Venegas also made a name for herself as a collaborator, writing songs for and performing with a range of Latin artists, from
Paulina Rubio and
Mala Rodríguez to
Miguel Bosé and
Los Tigres del Norte.
Born
Julieta Venegas Percevault on November 24, 1970, in Tijuana, Mexico,
Venegas is the daughter of two photographers and is one of five siblings. Her sister, Yvonne Venegas, is a notable photographer whose credits include
Ely Guerra and
RBD.
Julieta embarked on her musical journey at a young age, studying piano from the age of eight. In addition to piano, she also studied musical theory, singing, cello, and violoncello at La Escuela de Música del Noroeste, while she also crossed the U.S. border to study at South Western College in San Diego -- all of this before she even graduated from high school. During her school years she began playing with various bands, including Grupo Chantaje and
Tijuana No! (composing one of the latter's more significant hits, "Pobre de Ti").
At age 22
Venegas moved to Mexico City, where she hoped to involve herself with the city's vibrant music scene. Given her talent and beauty, it didn't take her long to make acquaintances, among them Fratta and
Café Tacuba. She began writing music for plays around this time, including Calígula Probablemente by Francisco Franco, and she also took up the accordion.
Venegas then started a band called La Milagrosa, enlisting Fratta and
Rafael González, but when she was offered a contract with
BMG, she dropped the idea of forming a band and began work on her solo debut,
Aquí (1997), which she recorded in Los Angeles with esteemed producer
Gustavo Santaolalla (
Café Tacuba,
Juanes,
Molotov).
In addition to writing the songs on
Aquí and singing them,
Venegas also played the accordion, piano, and guitar; a number of guests also played on the album, among them brothers
Joselo and Enrique Rangel (
Café Tacuba),
Rafael González (
Botellita de Jerez), and Patricio Iglesias (
Santa Sabina).
BMG released the album in the United States and Spain as well as throughout Latin America, and it won critical acclaim in all corners.
Venegas also toured a lot, embarking on the De Viva Voz tour with
Ely Guerra and
Aurora y la Academia (which stretched across North America) and the Calaveras y Diablitos tour with
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs and
Aterciopelados (which hit the major cities of Spain). During this same late-'90s era,
Venegas contributed her talents to a number of albums by other artists (Enrique Bunbury,
Mastretta) and to a number of soundtracks, too (En el País de No Pasa Nada,
Amores Perros), and she performed at a number of major festivals as well.
During roughly this same period,
Venegas found time to write and record her second album,
Bueninvento (2000). A bit of a departure from her debut,
Bueninvento is a full-fledged rock en español album and features a backing band of veteran session men:
Joe Gore (guitar),
Fernando Saunders (bass),
Joey Waronker (drums), and
Rick Boston (sax, flutes). More tours and soundtrack contributions followed: the Revolución tour with
Jaguares,
Jumbo,
La Gusana Ciega, and Lisa Flores; the Fémina Rock tour with
Aterciopelados,
Maria Gabriela Epumer, and others; and the films Demasiado Amor, El Sueño del Caimán, Asesino en Serio, María Llena Eres de Gracia, and Subterra. She also got her first Latin Grammy nominations: Best Rock Song for "Hoy No Queiro" and Best Rock Album for
Bueninvento.
Venegas subsequently settled down in Madrid and Buenos Aires to record her third album,
Sí (2003), with producers Coti Sorokin and
Cachorro López. Six of the album's ten songs were co-written with Sorokin, and the resulting album was a significant change from her past efforts: a colorful pop/rock album. Every song on
Sí clocks in between three and four minutes in length; the hooks are memorable and melodic; the music is generally fun and upbeat; and all of it is broadly appealing rather than confrontational, as her past music had often been. Also unlike her past work,
Sí took off commercially, going triple platinum in Mexico, topping the album chart there and breaking into the Top Five on the stateside Latin albums chart, and spawning four big hits ("Andar Conmigo," "Lento," "Algo Está Cambiando," "Oleada"), three of them reaching number one in either Mexico or the United States. The success of
Sí led to a Latin Grammy for Best Rock Solo Vocal Album in 2004; plus, there were a trio of MTV Music Video Awards, for Best Solo Artist, Best Artist (Mexico), and Artist of the Year.
For her next album,
Limón y Sal (2006),
Venegas once again worked with producers Coti Sorokin and
Cachorro López, and once again came up with a broadly appealing, hit-laden pop/rock album. The lead single, "Me Voy," spent 12 weeks atop the Mexican singles chart; it also was a number one in Spain, a Top Three hit in Italy, and a Top Ten Latin hit in the U.S. A string of follow-up singles (including "Limón y Sal," "Eres Para Mí," and "Primer Día") followed "Me Voy" up the Latin American and European charts (
Limón y Sal itself topped charts in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and Central America; plus, it went Top Five in Spain, Top Ten in Switzerland, and Top 200 in the United States).
Venegas continued to command heavy airplay for the string of singles from
Limón y Sal well into late 2007, at which time a best-of collection,
Realmente Lo Mejor, was issued. Meanwhile, the accolades continued: a Grammy in 2007 for Best Latin Pop Album, a Latin Grammy Award in 2006 for Best Alternative Music Album, and an MTV Video Music Award in 2006 for Best Solo Artist. In 2008,
Venegas released an
MTV Unplugged album and started an international tour for the first time. In 2010 she released
Otra Cosa, which received Gold status in Mexico. In August 2010, she gave birth to a daughter and began work on what was to become her sixth studio album Momentos, which was released in 2013. It was the first album by a Latin artist to be released in digital streaming exclusively for Latin America and Spain.
With her daughter, Venegas toured Europe, Latin America, and the United States in support of Momentos. She went on hiatus for over a year. In January of 2015 she began writing and recording a new album with co-producers
Cachorro Lopez and
Yamil Rezc. The topics of many of its songs reflect childhood and adolescence, inspired by the autobiographical novels of Karl Ove Knausgård. The title track was issued as a first pre-release single with a musical structure that harks back to
the Cure. Its second, "Explosion," was written in response to the "desparacidos," -- the disappeared ones -- of Mexico, who include thousands of women. The album was released in August 2015. ~ Jason Birchmeier