Julieta Venegas Percevault (; born 24 November 1970) is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She specializes in Spanish indie pop rock and embarked on her musical journey by joining several bands, including the Mexican ska band Tijuana No!. Venegas is proficient in playing 17 instruments, including the acoustic guitar, accordion, and keyboard.
Biography
Born in Long Beach, California, Venegas grew up in Tijuana, Mexico, since the age of one month old, and began playing instruments at the age of 8 when her parents first sent her to piano lessons. In the years that followed, music became her passion. She speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and English. Additionally, she has a twin sister named Yvonne, who is a photographer.
In 1997, she released her debut album, "Aquí," to favorable reviews in Mexico from the rock audience.. Her subsequent production, "Bueninvento" (2000), also produced by Gustavo Santaolalla, garnered praise from international critics and was considered the third-best album in the history of Spanish Rock by Rolling Stone. In later years, she established herself as one of the most prominent songwriters in Latin pop, achieving fame in 2003 in Latin America and Spain with the album "Sí" and singles such as "Andar Conmigo" and "Algo está cambiando," which topped the Latin Billboard charts.
In 2006, she released her most successful album, "Limón y Sal," which remains her best-selling album to date. "Limón y Sal" attained Platinum status in several countries, propelled by the worldwide hit "Me Voy," certified Gold in Mexico. Her first live album, "MTV Unplugged" (2008), sold more than 400,000 digital copies, earning a diamond certification in Mexico. Under Sony Music, Venegas released her fifth studio album, "Otra Cosa" (2010). She followed with her sixth studio album, "Los Momentos" (2013), marking a transition to indie pop. Her seventh studio album, "Algo Sucede" (2015), debuted at number 1 on the Latin Pop Albums chart.
Since 2017, she has resided in Buenos Aires, where she made her debut as a theater actress in the play "La Enamorada" by Argentine writer Santiago Loza. Additionally, she released the album "La Enamorada" (2019), featuring themes based on the play. It is estimated that she has sold 10 million records worldwide. Throughout her career, she has earned eight Latin Grammy Awards, seven MTV Awards, seven Broadcast Music, Inc. Awards, five VEVO Certified awards, three Oye! Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, and over 100 other awards. She has also received accolades such as the Master of Latin Music Award at Berklee College for her career and a Musa Award in honor of her compositions. She had described the inspiration for her music with the following quote:I mostly aspire to be a storyteller. I loved people like Suzanne Vega, and Lou Reed, or Cat Stevens, but it never occurred to me to write in English. I started listening to people like Silvio Rodriguez, who wrote some wonderful lyrics. When I went to live in Mexico City, I met a lot of people who helped and influenced me, like Café Tacuba, Gustavo Santaolalla, and they helped me to find my voice. Gustavo produced my first record, Aqui, in 1998, which was very important for me.
Career At the beginning of her career, she collaborated with a few bands in Tijuana, and then later in Mexico City.
1997–1999: Aquí With the support of BMG, Julieta Venegas recorded her first solo album with producer Gustavo Santaolalla. Released in 1997, Aquí contained twelve tracks composed by Venegas and was distributed in Mexico, Spain, and several Latin American countries. The material proved Venegas to be an extremely inventive artist in Mexican popular music. The first single from the album, "De Mis Pasos," was dramatically accepted by a young audience and quickly positioned as one of the best female rock songs of that time. The second single, "Como Sé," won the MTV award for "Mejor Interpretación Femenina." Following the international release of the album, Venegas received a large number of invitations to collaborate with different musicians and performers in Latin America, including Sasha Sokol, Enanitos Verdes, Sr. Gonzalez, Los Tres, Liquits, Cartel de Santa, León, and Enrique Bunbury.
In 1998, she participated in the tour "De Diva Voz" with Ely Guerra and Aurora y La Academia, appearing at different locations in Mexico and the United States. Soon after, she toured in "Calaveritas y Diablitos" next to Aterciopelados and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs in Spain. The same year she participated in the album Volcán: Tributo a José José, a tribute to the legendary Mexican singer José José. Venegas recorded the song "El Triste."
Her participation in international festivals increased the following year, and Venegas performed at "Midem Americas (Miami)," Generation Ñ "(in Spain)," Rock Al Parque de Bogotá (Colombia) and Festival "El Hatillo" (in Venezuela).
In 1999, she appeared in the Mexican version of the video "Infinito" by Bunbury. In 2000, Nacho Mastretta invited her to participate in her album "Luna de Miel," which consists of twelve songs performed by twelve female vocalists from different countries. Soon after that, Venegas contributed three songs to the soundtrack of En El País de No Pasa Nada. Soon after, Julieta Venegas wrote and recorded the song "Amores Perros Me Van A Matar" for the film "Amores Perros." The song was produced by Emmanuel del Real and Quique Rangel (Café Tacuba), who would also collaborate with Venegas on her next album, Bueninvento.
2000–2002: Bueninvento Bueninvento, also produced by Gustavo Santaolalla and Joe Chiccarelli, was launched in September 2000. It was recorded in Los Angeles (California), Monterrey and Mexico City. Thirteen of the fourteen songs are authored by Julieta Venegas including a tribute to Juan Gabriel – "Siempre En Mi Mente." In the same year, she participated in the "Arezzo Wave Love" in Italy, where she sang a version of the song "Amores Perros ..." in Italian, and joined the tour "Evolucion 2000" with Jaguares, Jumbo, and Gusana Ciega. She was also involved in the Hannover Fair as part of Music Bridges Around the World, which links to composers from around the world. Venegas joined the Cubadisco Festival in Havana, Cuba and the tour 'Femina Rock' with Maria Gabriela Epumer and other female figures in rock.
In 2002, the singer Victor Manuel called, offering for her to participate in a tribute to Joaquín Sabina along with other women by singing "Corre Dijó La Tortuga." She participated in several soundtracks including Maria Full of Grace with the song "Lo Que Venga Después," and Demasiado Amor with a two versions of the cover of Lupita D'Alessio's "Acariciame," one in collaboration with Mastretta and one with Joan Valent. She worked with Mastretta for the main theme of the Spanish film "El Sueño del Caiman."
Venegas sang "Niños," a duet with Spanish Pedro Guerra Ofrenda, and received by the same in the Persian Gulf where they sang a duet on the song "Cómo Sé" against the European media. She performed on the Soda Stereo album tribute to the song "Disco Eterno" which was nominated for a Grammy for "Best Rock Song: Hoy No Quiero" and "Best Alternative Rock Disco: Bueninvento." She took a brief break in her career and was dedicated to singing themes José José ("El Triste"), José Alfredo Jimenez ("Serenata Sin Luna") and Los Tigres del Norte ("La Jaula de Oro") and did duets with Celso Piña and ska "Los de Abajo" while preparing the songs for her upcoming album Sí.
2003–2004: Sí In late 2003 she released the album Sí on which she collaborated with Coti and "Cachorro Lopez." Sí was recorded in Argentina and Spain. As her most commercially successful release to date, it allowed her to reach a wider market. It has sold over a million copies, making the songs "Andar Conmigo," "Lento," and "Algo Está Cambiando" pop standards in Latin music. She was invited to perform, along with Pau Dones from Jarabe de Palo, a song for the soundtrack of the movie Asesino En Serie "El Listón de Tu Pelo," a tribute to Los Angeles Azules.
2004 was the most productive year professionally and spiritually for Julieta Venegas – MTVla prized her with three awards for "Artist of the Year," "Solo of the Year," and "Best Artist North." She was also awarded her first Latin Grammy in the category "Best Rock Album." She won 3 Awards for "Oye!" Mexico City in the categories "Artist of the Year," "Song of the Year: Andar Conmigo," and "Record of the Year: Sí." In 2004 she collaborated on the album Neruda En El Corazón with artists like Joan Manuel Serrat, Pablo Milanés and Ana Belén. It was responsible for putting music to the poem "A Callarse." She also participated in the "Diego Torres: MTV Unplugged" on the song "Sueños." Additionally, Venegas performed in the concert "El Sueño Existe" in homage to Salvador Allende in the Stadium Nacional de Chile, with Chilean and international artists as Gilberto Gil, The Prisoners, Leon Gieco, and Silvio Rodríguez, among others.
Venegas began her first international tour in Mexico and celebrated it with a memorable concert at the Teatro Metropolitan, which is reflected on the album Sí Special Edition. She is the first Latin artist to release a "Limited Edition DualDisc." Julieta Venegas was positioned with Latin artists with more international exposure, and was therefore requested to sing with various artists such as Lenine, El Cartel de Santa and Paulina Rubio. Sí was received with open arms in Viña del Mar, where it received the recognition Mar de Plata. Venegas was invited to record in Los Shajatos, singing in English "You've got Hide Your Love Away" and "Blackbird" by The Beatles.
Venegas also participated on "Tonto" on Vincentico's album Los Rayos, "Miedo" on MTV Unplugged Lenine, and on different musical scores for movies such as Hotel Tivoli ("El Fuego y El Combustible") and Sólo Dios Sabe (" Saudade " ft. Otto and "Lagrimas Negras").
2005–2007: Limón y Sal Venegas took about a year to develop her next album, Limón y Sal, which was recorded in Buenos Aires with Cachorro López producing. When the first single "Me Voy," a Ranchera/Pop song, was released in March 2006, it quickly rose in popularity, transcending distance and language barriers as it was performed in English, Italian and Spanish.
May saw the launch of Limón y Sal which was awarded a gold record for more than 50 thousand copies sold within two days of its launch. After a single week, it had received a platinum for 100 thousand records in Mexico and more golds for selling 50 thousand copies in both Spain and the United States. A few days later, the album received another gold record for more than 50 thousand copies in Italy. A total of 4 singles were released: "Me Voy," "Limón y Sal," "Eres para Mí," and "Primer Día"–a song that was supposedly only for Europe, but also caught American ears. At the same time, she paid tribute to Andrés Calamaro with "Sin Documentos."
In June 2006 in Spain, Venegas took part in the MTV Day festival with Amaral and Keane, among others. Two days later, she participated in the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of Los 40 Principales Radio Formula. She sang "Me Voy" and "Nada de Esto Fué Un Error" next to Coti. Venegas has participated in the Spanish series Yo Soy Bea, and the series was also involved in "SOS Mi Vida" Argentina on TV. In 2007 Venegas released a compilation album entitled Realmente Lo Mejor.
Venegas also collaborated on the Hector Buitrago album "Conector" with "Música Somos" before beginning a world tour that kicked off in Italy and made its way through other parts of Europe. Upon returning from Europe, she visited almost all of Latin America and the United States on her "Limón y Sal" tour. With regard to awards, she won her second Latin Grammy for "Best Alternative Album" and also won her first Grammy in a historic tie with Ricardo Arjona's album "Adentro."
2008–2009: MTV Unplugged