Juan Fernando Velasco (born January 17, 1972 in Quito,

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

) is an

Ecuadorian Ecuadorians ( es, ecuatorianos) are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are colle ...

musician.

Biography

Juan Fernando Velasco was born January 17, 1972 in Quito, Ecuador. He has had three albums in which some of the most popular songs are Ecuadorian

Pasillo Pasillo ( en, little step, hallway or aisle) is a Colombian, genre of music extremely popular in the territories that composed the 19th century Viceroyalty of New Granada: Born in the Colombian Andes during the independence wars, it spread to oth ...

Second album

In 2002, Velasco released his second album, ''Tanto amor''. The album reached

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

status in

and Colombia and also was a success in other countries. The songs "Chao Lola", "Dicen", "Hoy que no estás", "Si alguna vez te amé", and "Salud" were in the first places on the charts in Ecuador, Colombia,

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

, Guatemala and Costa Rica. In 2004, he received the "Orden Vicente Rocafuerte" – the highest award granted by the Ecuadorian government to an artist. He was also named "Peace Ambassador" by the Interamerican Platform of Human Rights.

Initial works

Velasco's music career started when he, together with some school friends, created the band "Tercer Mundo" (Third World), which became well known in Ecuador. After ten years with the band, he decided to continue his career alone. In 1999 he released his first solo album, ''Para que no me olvides''. The album became an instant success, qualified for the Viña del Mar festival in Chile, and was later certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

. The song "Para que no me olvides" became a hit in Colombia.

Present

Since 2005, Velasco lives in Miami. In 2007, he released his third album called ''A tu lado''. The album features contributions by

Jorge Villamizar Jorge Alberto Villamizar Iregui (born 14 October 1970) is a Colombian musician, singer and composer, leader of the band Bacilos, and one of the most representative Latin American singers. Villamizar came to prominence as the lead member of the ...

(ex member of the group Bacilos) and the rapper

Gerardo Mejía Gerardo Mejía (born April 16, 1965 Billboard.com – Biography – Gerardo Retrieved September 22, 2008.), better known by his mononym Gerardo, is an Ecuadorian-born American rapper, singer and actor who later became a recording industry execut ...

and the participation of well-known musicians and engineers like Pichón Dal Mont,

Mario Breuer is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...

, Xavier Garza, Carlos Villavicencio and the Grammy award-winning producer Andrés Castro. The disc was nominated in 2007 for the MTV Latin Awards (Mexico, October 18, 2007) and also for the Latin Grammy Awards (Las Vegas, November 8, 2007). Invited by Juanes, Velasco was one of seven musicians who participated in the Concert "Paz Sin Fronteras", together with Miguel Bosé, Juan Luis Guerra, Ricardo Montaner, Alejandro Sanz and Carlos Vives. The concert took place on March 16, 2008 at the Simon Bolivar bridge in Cucuta, on the border between Colombia and Venezuela.

Discography

Albums

''Para que no me olvides'' (1999, Union Music)

#"Lo que tu silencio otorga" #"Dejame" #"Me voy" #"Son uno mismo" #"A donde vas" #"Se van" #"Para que no me olvides" #"Reina" #"Galaxia azul" #"Latinoamerica"

''Tanto amor'' (2002, Union Music)

#"Hoy que no estas" #"Chao Lola" #"Dicen" #"Si alguna vez te ame" #"De rodar y rodar" #"Tarjetitas" #"El aguacate" #"Tanto amor" #"A tajitos de caña" #"Dame un instante" #"Angel de luz" #"Salud"

''A tu lado'' (2007, Union Music)

#"A tu lado" #"Yo naci aqui" #"Se que te iras" #"Frente a frente" #"Si te pierdo" #"Cancion de las simples cosas" #"El alma en los labios" #"Sueños al hombro" #"Nunca" #"No te escuche" #"Si no pudiera estar" #"Frente a frente" (remix) Gerardo Mejia

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Velasco, Juan Fernando Living people 1972 births People from Quito Ecuadorian people of Spanish descent 21st-century Ecuadorian male singers