Juan Luis Guerra

Juan Luis Guerra Seijas (Santo Domingo, 7 June 1957) is a Dominican singer-songwriter, arranger, musician, record producer and businessman. With a career spanning more than 40 years, he has sold over 30 million records and won numerous awards, including 31 Latin Grammys, three American Grammys and eleven Latin Billboard Awards. He was honoured as BMI Icon at the 13th BMI Latin Awards, named BMI Latin Songwriter of the Year for 1995, and Guerra's compositions have won 24 BMI Latin Awards.

His commercial career began with the albums Soplando (1984), Mudanza y acarreo (1985) and Mientras más lo pienso... tú (1987). He and his band were nominated to take part in the OTI Festival de la Canción and represent the Dominican Republic.

His next album, Ojalá que llueva café (1989), brought him international recognition. On this album he blends merengue with soft melodies and very fast backing tracks, and it became an immediate hit in many Latin American countries, with the song of the same name as its first single. The video for the song was subsequently filmed, and Juan Luis Guerra y su banda 4.40 began to tour. The song was revived in 1996 and again in 2008, with versions by the Mexican band Café Tacuba and the Spanish singer Rosario Flores.

On 11 December 1990, he released his next album, Bachata rosa, which became a major commercial success and earned Guerra his first Grammy. The record sold more than five million copies and cemented Guerra as a leading figure during his tour of Latin America, the United States and Europe. The album includes memorable love songs such as 'Burbujas de amor', 'Bachata rosa', 'Rosalía', 'Como abeja al panal', 'A pedir su mano', 'Carta de amor' and 'Estrellitas y duendes'.

On 15 December 1992, he released his most socially committed album, Areíto (a Taíno word), and his first hit, 'El costo de la vida' (number one on the Hot Latin Tracks chart, where Guerra became the first tropical music artist to achieve this feat), whose video carries a clear message about capitalist economic hegemonies and impositions. Other songs on the album protest against the poor conditions in many Latin American countries, address the celebration of the 'discovery' of America and the double standards of First World countries.

On the album Fogaraté (1994), Guerra distanced himself from songs with critical and social content. The album focuses especially on the most rural and least well-known genres of Dominican music, such as perico ripiao.

His album Ni es lo mismo ni es igual (1998) met with great critical acclaim, winning three Latin Grammys in 2000 for best merengue performance, best tropical song and best arrangement. His hits include 'Mi PC', 'Palomita blanca' and 'El Niágara en bicicleta'.

In 2007, he was the most awarded artist at the Latin Grammys, with six. He won three Latin Grammys in 2010, including 'A son de Guerra' as album of the year. In 2012 he won a Latin Grammy as Producer of the Year. He was also the most awarded artist at the Latin Grammys in 2015, with three gramophones.

Juan Luis Guerra has been one of the most internationally recognised Latin artists of recent decades. His style of mixing merengue and bolero, and his fusion of Afro-pop/jazz, have earned him considerable success throughout Latin America.