La Oreja de Van Gogh in concert (photo: Mauricio Poblete via Wikimedia Commons)One of my favorite popular music groups, the Spanish team of La Oreja de Van Gogh (Van Gogh's Ear), is breaking up. Or, more precisely, their lead singer, Amaia Montero, has quit:La cantante de La Oreja de Van Gogh abandona el grupo El País 19.11.07.
In an interesting twist, the Mexican pop star Paulina Rubio is reportedly scheduled to take over Amaia's lead singing role on their next album, though that doesn't mean she's joining the group:Paulina Rubio, voz 'circunstancial' del próximo disco de La Oreja de Van Gogh El Mundo 22.11.07. Paulina's style is notably different from Amaia's. Quico Alsedo Comments in his "Sexo, droge y rock&blog" that replacing Amaia in La Oreja de Van Gogh with Paulina would be kind of like Mick Jagger joining the Beatles (Paulina, rica, deja a Van Gogh con su oreja, por favor).
Amaia Montero (photo: Sergio González via Wikimedia Commons)
Amaia's departure is reported to be a result of her differences with the group's guitarist and lyricist Pablo Benegas: Amaia da un portazo a la Oreja de Van Gogh por Lino Portela El País 20.11.07 Divorcio en La Oreja de Van Gogh El Mundo 19.11.07. Amaia appeared in Peru in early December without the other band members, performing with Alejandro Sanz' band.
I heard La Oreja de Van Gogh perform in San Jose about this time last year. They are popular among fans of Latino music, but I had the impression they were trying to build a bigger audience here. The gave a great concern, with Amaia singing lead on all songs. I think they must have played almost every song on their four CDs. I'm even more glad I saw them, now, since that's likely to be my last chance to see the band together.
I imagine that Amaia has a promising solo career ahead of her. But music is a tough business. The group's 2006 CD "Guapa" was Spain's best-selling CD of last year.
Paulina Rubio (Photo: Victor B via Wikimedia Commons)
Related articles:
La Oreja de Van Gogh: Photo por Bernardo Pérez El País 20.11.07
Amaia Montero, ex cantante de La Oreja de Van Gogh: 'La decisión más difícil de mi vida' El Mundo 19.11.07
'Un post no deseado...' El Mundo 19.11.07
No comments:
Post a Comment