| George Noriega | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | George Noriega |
| Born | October 24, 1966 Miami, Florida, United States |
| Genres | Pop, rock, Latin, country |
| Occupations | Songwriter, record producer |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Associated acts | Draco, Paloma Faith, Ricky Martin, Shakira |
| Website | CuttingCane.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| Voice, guitar, bass, drums, piano | |
George Noriega (born October 24, 1966) is a Grammy-winning American songwriter and record producer. He is the owner of Cutting Cane Studios and Cutting Cane Publishing, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[1]
Noriega came to prominence in the late 90s as he helped Latin artists such as Ricky Martin, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez cross over into the English pop music market. He has been a producer and/or songwriter on albums that have sold over 30 million copies worldwide.
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Noriega was born in Miami, Florida, to Cuban/American parents who migrated to the United States in 1961, and later moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida when George was 2 years old. At 15 years of age, he got his first taste of the Rock-n-roll life while drumming for his first band "The Scoundrels" with brothers Jason Christopher and Kenneth John. He later found success as a singer and guitar player with the band "Utrec" alongside brothers Rich and Andy Kwiat, Eddie Mejia and Robert Gomez. They wrote and produced over sixty songs and shared the stage with bands such as Winger, The Guess Who and The Outfield.
He attended the University of Miami as a Jazz Vocal major, and received a Bachelor's Degree in Music in 1995.
Immediately following graduation, Noriega became a background vocalist for Gloria Estefan's "Evolution" World Tour. By the end of the tour, he joined Estefan Enterprises as a songwriter and producer.
In 1999 he co-wrote "She's All I Ever Had" ("Bella"), which was recorded by Ricky Martin and was certified Platinum and reached #2 on Billboard's Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Latin Tracks charts. The follow-up single "Shake Your Bon Bon" was also co-written and produced by Noriega. The full length album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 Chart and has sold over 17 million copies worldwide.
Noriega later teamed up with Emilio Estefan and Robert Blades to write and produce Gloria Estefan's album Alma Caribeña, which immediately went to #1 on the Billboard Latin 50, and led George to receive a Grammy for Best Latin/Tropical Producer. The production team's first two singles "No Me Dejes de Querer" and "Como Me Duele Perderte" also topped the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart at #1.
In 2001, Noriega wrote and produced with Shakira for her highly successful English language debut Laundry Service, which has sold more than 13 million copies worldwide. During 2002 and early 2003 he teamed up with Robi "Draco" Rosa to write and produce ten tracks for his groundbreaking, Grammy-winning album Mad Love.
2005 saw the release of another Noriega production: Ricky Martin's English-language album Life, and found George collaborating with The Matrix, Scott Storch, Timbaland, Billy Mann and Sean Garrett. In 2006 George worked with Jodi Marr on Alejandra Guzmán's album Indeleble. The Grammy Nominated album (which reached the #1 spot in Mexico) has been certified double-platinum and won two awards at the Premios Oye! 2006.
Noriega continued to collaborate with Draco Rosa on several projects, including Vino, which won a Latin Grammy for "Best Rock album", and the "Teatro Live DVD", in which Noriega can be seen performing. In 2009, Draco recorded all his vocals and several other elements for the album Amor Vincit Omnia at Cutting Cane Studios with George. The album was released in January 2010, went to #1 in Puerto Rico soon after was nominated for a Grammy for best Rock/Alternative album.
He also has several other songs/production releases coming out in 2010: Paloma Faith (Sony/UK), The Hoosiers (RCA/UK), Clare Maguire (Polydor/UK), Alicastro and Sarah Packiam.