| La Oreja de Van Gogh | |
|---|---|
From left to right: Pablo Benegas, Xabi San Martín, Leire Martínez, Harítz Garde and Alvaro Fuentes. |
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | LOVG |
| Origin | San Sebastián, Guipuzcoa, Basque Country, Spain |
| Genres | Pop/Pop-Rock[1] Rock en español[1] |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Sony Music |
| Website | La Oreja de Van Gogh |
| Members | |
| Pablo Benegas (guitar) Álvaro Fuentes (bass) Xabi San Martín (keyboards) Haritz Garde (drums) Leire Martínez (vocals) |
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| Past members | |
| Amaia Montero (vocals) (1996-2007) | |
La Oreja de Van Gogh (English: Van Gogh's Ear) is a Latin Grammy-winning and Grammy-nominated Spanish pop band from Donostia-San Sebastian. The name of the band refers to the famous post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh who cut off the lobe of his own ear. Their characteristically poetic songs (both lyrics and music) are written mainly by band members Pablo Benegas, Xabi San Martín and Amaia Montero. The themes of their songs typically include love, friendship and relationships. Since their debut, they have sold more than 6 million copies worldwide of their albums.
In November 2007, lead singer Amaia Montero announced that she would be leaving the group to begin a solo career.[2] Her replacement, Leire Martínez, was announced in July 2008, along with the band's first single "El Último Vals" from their album titled A las cinco en el Astoria which was released on September 2, 2008. Leire was discovered on the Spanish reality show Factor X.[3]
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"Los Sin Nombre" (Those Without Name) was the original name of the band when it was formed by the four men of the group while in college : Xabi San Martín, Pablo Benegas, Álvaro Fuentes and Haritz Garde. They recorded covers of songs from bands like U2 or Pearl Jam. They met Amaia Montero at a friend's party, and after listening to her singing "Nothing Compares 2 U" (Sinéad O'Connor), Benegas convinced her to join the group. After several meetings in local cafés, they decided on the name that Amaia preferred, "La Oreja de Van Gogh" (Van Gogh's Ear), an allusion to the famous painter's cutting of his own ear.
They won a pop-rock music festival in San Sebastián under the new name, and after some calls and hard work, in 1998 they recorded their first album Dile al sol (Tell the Sun). They were successful and rose to fame in 2000 with the publication of El viaje de Copperpot (Copperpot's Journey, a reference to Chester Copperpot in the movie "The Goonies"). Three years later, they published Lo que te conté mientras te hacías la dormida (What I Told You While You Pretended To Sleep) and in 2006, they published Guapa (Beautiful).
In 2007, Amaia Montero left the group and Xabi, Pablo, Álvaro and Haritz held an audition looking for a new vocalist. In July 2008 they presented Leire Martínez as the new vocalist and the new song "El Último Vals" as the first single of their new album A las cinco en el Astoria (At Five O'Clock At the Astoria).
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