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Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco, better known as León Gieco (born on November 20, 1951) is an
Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...
performer,
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...
and
interpreter Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...
. He is known for mixing popular
folkloric Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as tales, myths, legends, proverbs, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also includes material ...
genres Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other form ...
with
Argentine rock Argentine rock (known locally as ''rock nacional'' , "national rock" in the sense of "local", "not international") is rock music composed or performed by Argentina, Argentine bands or artists mostly in Spanish. Argentine rock was the earliest inc ...
, and lyrics with social and political connotations. This has led to him being called "The Argentine
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
".


Biography

Leon Gieco was born into a family of Italian origin on November 20, 1951, in Cañada Rosquín, Argentina. At 6 years old, Gieco traveled with his family from the field to the village center due to economic problems. At age 8, Gieco bought his first
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
on credit, and soon began playing music at local events with his father's band. Throughout his childhood, Gieco played with local bands such as a folkloric group called Los Nocheros (The Night Watchers) and Los Moscos (The Flies), a
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band that gained some popularity within Argentina. In 1965, Gieco traveled to Bolivia as an exchange student. He studied music and played guitar at local festivities. When Gieco turned 18, he went to
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
to become a full-time musician. There, he took guitar lessons from
Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla (; born 19 August 1951) is an Argentine composer, record producer and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Gustavo Santaolalla, numerous accolades for List of works by Gustavo S ...
, who introduced him to important people in the Buenos Aires musical community, such as Raúl Porchetto,
Charly García Carlos Alberto García Moreno (born October 23, 1951), better known by his stage name Charly García, is an Argentine singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer and record producer, considered one of the most important rock musicians in ...
, Nito Mestre, and María Rosa Yorio, future members along with Gieco of the Argentine supergroup, Porsuigieco. Gieco was given the opportunity to perform in the Buenos Aires Rock Festival in 1971, 1972, and 1973. In 1973, he recorded his first album, "Leon Gieco" ( it was recorded independently with Santaolalla). "En el País de la Libertad" ("In the Country of Freedom"), a hit from his album, demonstrated Gieco's concern for change in Argentina, his concern for
social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...
. In 1976 Gieco released ''El Fantasma de Canterville'' ("The Ghost of Canterville"). The record suffered a great deal of
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...
from the
military government A military government is any government that is administered by a military, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue or by an occupying power. It is usually administered by military personnel. Types of m ...
forcing him to change the lyrics of 6 songs and remove 3 others altogether. Nevertheless, the record was a success, and he had concerts not only around
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, but also in other countries of
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
. Two years later he released ''IV LP'', with one of his most famous songs: " Sólo le pido a Dios" ("I only ask of God"). Due to the political situation in Argentina, Gieco was forced to move to the United States and Italy in 1978 for one year. In the US he lived with family friends in Los Angeles and Ann Arbor, Mi. While in Ann Arbor, he performed at the famous Blues and Jazz Festival in the summer of 1978. On December 20, 1979, the Argentine Minister of Education announced the closing of the National University of Lujan in Buenos Aires. Gieco participated in a protest against the closing by singing "La Cultura es la Sonrisa". His lyrics say, "(Culture) only cries in a country where people can't choose it/it only cries its sadness if a minister closes a school..." In 1981 Gieco started a 3-year, 110,000-kilometre-long series of independent concerts all over Argentina, playing for a total of 420,000 people. He gathered material from the different places he visited during the tour, and recorded the first volume of ''De Ushuaia a La Quiaca'' ("From
Ushuaia Ushuaia ( , ) is the capital city, capital of Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. With a population of 82,615 and a location below the 54th parallel south latitude, U ...
to La Quiaca" in Buenos Aires with various autochthonous musicians in 1985. The following ''De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 2'' and ''De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 3'' were recorded in a mobile studio in different locations of the country. In 1985, Gieco went to
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
for the 12th "World Youth and Students' Festival" alongside Juan Carlos Baglietto and Litto Nebbia, representing Argentina. In 1986 and 1987, he held concerts in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
with his friend Mercedes Sosa, including that of
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
's Political Song Festival. Gieco returned to Argentina and performed free concerts, one for 40,000 spectators at the National Flag Memorial in Rosario, and the other for 35,000 people in Buenos Aires. At
Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...
'
Stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...
he had a concert with Pablo Milanés and Chico Buarque, and guest musicians Mercedes Sosa, Fito Páez, Nito Mestre, Juan Carlos Baglietto and Sixto Palavecino. At the end of the year he went on a world tour that included countries such as
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
,
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
,
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
and
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. In 1988, Gieco performed in Germany and
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
. Back in Argentina he participated in the final concert of the
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
Human Rights Now! Tour at River Plate Stadium, with
Charly García Carlos Alberto García Moreno (born October 23, 1951), better known by his stage name Charly García, is an Argentine singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer and record producer, considered one of the most important rock musicians in ...
,
Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...
,
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
, Sting, and others. After eight years of touring, ''Semillas del corazón'' ("Seeds of the heart") marked his return to the studio in 1989. That same year he performed at the ''Teatro Ópera'' in Buenos Aires with the American folk legend
Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...
. The following year, Seeger asked him to join a tour that took him to
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
,
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
and
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. There he played with
David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...
, whom he had met in Buenos Aires shortly before. In 1992, he played with Milton Nascimento, Mercedes Sosa, Os Paralamas do Sucesso,
Gilberto Gil Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira (; born 26 June 1942), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician, known for both his musical innovation and political activism. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil's Ministry of Culture (Brazil), Minister of ...
and Rubén Rada at the inauguration of the
Latin American Parliament The Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (''Parlatino'') is a regional, permanent organisation bringing together parliamentarians from Latin America and the Caribbean. It is a consultative assembly made up of national parliamentarians, simil ...
in
São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
. In 1997 he participated in the memorial concert for the
Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo () is an Argentina, Argentine human rights association formed in response to abuses by the National Reorganization Process, the military dictatorship by Jorge Rafael Videla. Initially the association worked to find ...
, with bands such as Divididos, La Renga, Los Piojos, and Attaque 77. Gieco began his most recent national tour for social justice, ''Mundo Alas'', in 2007. Argentine musicians, dancers, singers, and painters, all with
disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physica ...
, performed alongside Gieco, expressing their unique talents and communicating with audiences. He gave these artists the opportunity to live out their dreams as he does. Gieco created a documentary from the road tour which was produced in March, 2009. The film features
rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...
,
folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
, and
tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...
, along with Gieco's original hits. During his stop in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
on his 2013 '' Wrecking Ball World Tour'',
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
filmed a video for a solo acoustic performance of "Sólo le Pido a Dios". In 2020, he was sentenced to pay a large sum of money for having been sent in an unjustified and discriminatory manner to "Bebe" Carrizo, who had been employed for more than 30 years. The worker accused Gieco of having been marginalized from a European tour because this continent "is desired by a poor black man from Catamarca," who must "conform with Latin America." The court sentenced Gieco to pay Carrizo the sum of 278,499.46 pesos more than the interest for the last four years. The application initiated by Bebe Carrizo in March 2009 included a claim of 1.3 million pesos for the claim that she was the victim of an “unjustified and discriminatory complaint.” After an exchange of telegrams, Carrizo was fired because Gieco did not take him on the tour that was to begin on October 1, 2008. https://urgente24.com/210529-recuerdan-una-causa-judicial-de-leon-gieco-por-discriminador


Discography

*''León Gieco'' (1973) *''La Banda de los Caballos Cansados'' (1974) *''El fantasma de Canterville'' (1976) *''IV LP'' (1978) *''Siete años'' (1980) *''Pensar en nada'' (1981) *''Corazón americano / El gran concierto'' (1985) *''De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 1'' (1985) *''De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 2'' (1985) *''De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 3'' (1985) *''Semillas del corazón'' (1989) *''Ayer y hoy'' (1989) *''Concierto en vivo con Pete Seeger'' (1990) *''Mensajes del alma'' (1992) *''Desenchufado'' (1994) *''Orozco'' (1997) *''En el país de la libertad'' (1999) *''De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 4'' (1999) *''40 obras fundamentales'' (2000) *''Bandidos rurales'' (2001) *''Por partida doble'' (2001) *''El vivo de León'' (2003) *''De Ushuaia a La Quiaca'' (re-edition) (2005) *'' Por Favor, Perdón y Gracias'' (2005) *''El Vivo de Leon'' (2003) *''El Desembarco'' (2011) *''El Hombrecito del Mar'' (2022)


See also

*
Culture of Argentina The culture of Argentina is as varied as the country Geography of Argentina, geography and is composed of a Demographics of Argentina, mix of ethnic groups. Modern Argentine culture has been influenced largely by the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Pl ...


References


External links

*
Biography
*
Village Voice
* rl=http://www.rock.com.ar/artistas/leon-gieco Leon Giecoon rock.com.ar {{DEFAULTSORT:Gieco, Leon 1951 births Living people People from San Martín Department, Santa Fe Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine harmonica players Argentine male singer-songwriters Illustrious Citizens of Buenos Aires Argentine rock musicians Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Latin music songwriters Rock songwriters