Melendi
His full name is Ramón Melendi Espina. Spanish pop singer with rock, flamenco, and rumba influences. Was born on January 21, 1979 in Oviedo, Asturias.
He realized very quickly that he wasn't made for studying, but he was good at soccer. He played in the lower ranks of Astur CF, at the time a reserve team for Real Oviedo. Afterwards, he worked as a waiter in several bars and spent all night out, living experiences that would later go on to make up the lyrics of his songs. In 2001, he joined a group called "El bosque de Sherwood", and soon after recorded a demo with only three songs, "Sin noticias de Holanda", "El informe del forense", and "Vuelvo a traficar".
In February 2003, Melendi released his first solo disc, called "Sin noticias de Holanda" with twelve songs. In December 2003, this disc was rereleased with two new songs, "Asturias" and "Moratalá". However, he reached true fame with the 2004 Vuelta a España chose his song "Con la luna llena" as its official theme. In May 2004, he started a small tour around Spain, selling 50,000 copies of his CD, making it a Gold Album.
In 2005, he released his second solo CD, "Que el cielo espere sentao", which has sold more than 200,000 copies. Later that same year, he rereleased the album with three new songs, "El Nano", "La dama, and "El vagabundo y Carlota", and a Live concert DVD recorded in Oviedo. He also became a father that year, and received the Onda award for Best Song of the Year for "Caminando por la vida".
In November 2005, he received seven Platinum Discs for his two albums. "Sin noticias..." received four and "Que el cielo..." three.
In 2006, it was announced that he would be one of the main stars in the PSP game "Gangs of London". Melendi played Mr. Big, an evil gangster. He also wrote the song "Gangs of London" for the occasion, going on to film a video amidst police lights and sirens. The videogame was launched on August 1 of that year in the UK and on September 6 in Spain; EMI stepped in to distribute his CDs worldwide.
Melendi in Valladolid.
He also wrote the song "Volveremos" (We Shall Return) for Real Oviedo. The singer is also involved in the production of the film "Vuelvo a traficar: The Film" (I'm Dealing Again).
"Mientras no cueste trabajo" was released on November 13, 2006 in two formats: a normal CD with 12 songs, and a special edition, with 16 songs and a DVD with extras. The disc was rereleased on September 29, 2007 with four new songs, "Firmes", "El rey de la baraja", "La aceituna", and "Me gusta el fútbol".
In 2007, he received the "Best Tour" award from the "Premios de la Música" ceremony held in Cordoba. He also did an advertising campaign for Canal+ Spain entitled "Me gusta el fútbol" (I Like Football), for which he wrote a song of the same name.
In 2007, he stood trial for provoking an incident while under the influence of alcohol on a flight from Madrid to Mexico City that required the pilot to return to Madrid two hours after takeoff[1][2]. He was released after testifying. Soon after, he was given the "Left Foot" award from Spanish radio station Cadena 100 for this incident.
Currently, Melendi directs his Blue Donkey Music company, helping young singers start their careers. He's offered contracts to four groups, Algunos Hombres Buenos, Rasel, La Dama y Belo, and Los Susodichos. This last group was nominated for a Latin Grammy for Best Rock Vocals. Algunos Hombres Buenos left the label in 2008.
On August 9, 2008 he presented his new single, "Un violinista en tu tejado" from his album Curiosa la cara de tu padre on Spanish radio station Los 40 Principales. The album was released on September 16, 2008. On December 12, Los 40 Principales awarded him their award for this album.
On March 17, 2009 he released a new double CD, Aún más curiosa la cara de tu padre, including the original disc and another with nine new songs and links to exclusive content on his website.
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