Nicolas Reyes (born 22 November 1958) is the lead

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

, producer and founder of the French musical group

Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings are a group of flamenco, salsa, and pop musicians from Arles and Montpellier in southern France, who perform mostly in Catalan but also mix in Spanish with southern French dialects. Although the group members were born in France, t ...

, along with

Tonino Baliardo file:Tonino Baliardo.JPG, Baliardo performing in 2012 Antoine "Tonino" Baliardo is a French guitarist of Spanish Gitanos, Gitano descent. He is the lead guitarist for Gipsy Kings, a New Flamenco group from France that has sold more than 18 millio ...

, the group popular for their Spanish music in the 1980s. Even though the group members were born in France, he was brought up in a Spanish culture since their parents were

gitanos The Romani in Spain, generally known by the exonym () or the endonym ''Calé'', belong to the Iberian Cale Romani subgroup, with smaller populations in Portugal (known as ) and in Southern France. Their sense of identity and cohesion stems f ...

who fled

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. He sings in different styles which mainly include traditional and popular

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

and

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

rumba The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba ...

music. With his hoarse and passionate voice, he is one of the most prominent flamenco singers in the world. Along with the Gipsy Kings, Nicolas Reyes sang songs such as " Bamboleo", " Volare", "

Djobi Djoba "Djobi, Djoba" is a hit song by the Gipsy Kings, a French- Calé rumba flamenca band. It was initially released in 1982 as an acoustic version on their debut album ''Allegria''. In 1987, the song was re-recorded and released as a single. This versi ...

", "

Hotel California "Hotel California" is the title track from the Eagles' album of the same name and was released as a single in February 1977. Writing credits for the song are shared by Don Felder (music), Don Henley, and Glenn Frey (lyrics). Joe Walsh came ...

" and many others topping the charts, which he played the

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

and palmas (hand clapping). He is left-handed. He is the son of the flamenco singer José Reyes, and the cousin of

Manitas de Plata Ricardo Baliardo (7 August 1921 – 5 November 2014), better known as Manitas de Plata, was a flamenco guitarist of Spanish Gitano descent born in southern France. Despite achieving worldwide fame, he was criticized for not following certain rh ...

, Hyppolyte Baliardo, and the three Bilardo brothers: Diego, Paco and Tonino. Nicolas is the third José Reyes' five sons, his older brothers are Pablo and

Canut Reyes François Reyes (born 9 June 1954), better known as Canut Reyes, is a French guitarist of Spanish Gitano descent, singer, songwriter and painter, best known for being part of the group The Gipsy Kings. Biography Canut Reyes was born in Stras ...

and the youngest are Patchaï and André, who all are active members of the group. Nicolas continues to sing for the group, although Canut and Patchaï also appear as main vocals. Georges, the son of Nicolas, who was born in 1975, also tours with the group. Nicolas Reyes speaks Spanish,

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

''Nicolas Reyes'', article de Christina Roden
site ''rootsworld.com'', 1997 and French. He lives in

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...

, in the south of France near the other members of the Gipsy Kings and their relatives who live between Arles and

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

References

{{reflist French male singer-songwriters Flamenco singers Rumba singers Gipsy Kings members People from Arles 1958 births Living people French Romani people Romani singers