PORTAL 1: JUANES' PERSONAL INFORMATION

JUANES

Juan Esteban Aristizabal Vasquez was born on August 9, 1972 in Medellin, Colombia, and takes her stage name as an abbreviation of his name, Juan Esteban.

He grew up in Medellín during the height of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar's reign, when the city had the highest homicide rate in the world. During his childhood, Juanes witnessed a civil war in which hundreds were killed. His cousin was killed by kidnappers, and gunmen also executed a close friend. To add further to Juanes' grief and desperation, his father died from cancer. This period shaped Juanes' social consciousness, saying "Colombia has suffered so much that the only way to go forward is to imagine a better country.

Since he was a child, 7 years old, he began to devote himself to his only passion: music. Soon, he founded his own group, Ekhymosis, where he was the lead singer and guitarist. The group held eight years and five albums, after which the solution arrived. n 1997 after the band broke up, Juanes continued solo and in 2000 he released the album, Fíjate Bien, which earned him three Latin Grammys. His follow-up album, Un Día Normal, was released in 2002 and was later certified platinum in multiple countries throughout Latin America. Juanes' third album, Mi Sangre (2004), which became an international bestseller, managing to position well in a number of countries around the world, achieved success due to the single "La Camisa Negra". He has since released La Vida... Es Un Ratico (2007) and P.A.R.C.E. (2010). On May 29, 2012 Juanes released the album Juanes MTV Unplugged.

Juanes met Karen Martínez during the filming of his video "Podemos Hacernos Daño". On August 6, 2004, they were married. The couple separated in May 2007, after three years of marriage due to unresolved differences, but reconciled four months later. They have three children together, two daughters: Luna Aristizábal Martínez (born September 6, 2003), Paloma Aristizábal Martínez (born June 2, 2005), and one son, Dante Aristizábal Martínez (born September 12, 2009)

Juanes is a vegetarian and currently lives in Key Biscayne, Florida.