Luz Casal

Infobox musical artist
Name = Luz Casal


Img_capt =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Luz Casal
Born = November 11
Origin = Boimorto, Galicia, Spain
Genre = Pop, Rock,
Occupation = Singer, Songwriter
Years_active = 2001 – present
Label = Hispavox, Zafiro
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.luzcasal.es/ Luz Casal]

Luz Casal (born November 11, 1958 at Boimorto, is a Spanish pop singer. She grew up in neighbouring Asturias, took singing, piano and ballet classes, and moved to Madrid to pursue a career as a musician.

She became famous in the early 1980s, and remained an important figure in Spanish pop music all through said decade and beyond, with her sound gradually maturing towards soft adult pop. She recorded a cover version of Étienne Daho's French language song "Duel au Soleil" in Spanish called "Un nuevo día brillará", which became a hit song.

In 1992 she enjoyed great success with her appearance in the soundtrack of Pedro Almodóvar's acclaimed film "Tacones Lejanos" singing Agustín Lara's theme "Piensa en mí".

In January 2007, Luz Casal was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent an operation at the Ruber Clinic in Madrid.Fact|date=September 2007, seven months later, she revealed to the Spanish media that she had overcome her disease.

Her first name, Luz, means “light” in Spanish.

Biography

First years

Luz Casal is the daughter of José Casal and Matilde Paz. When she went to live in Avilés she studied in the school Paula Frassinetti, build by the Dorotean Sisters of Charity. Then, the family went to live in the town of Gijón where she performed for the first time in front of fifty people. There, she studied piano and ballet, apart from that, she formed part of a Rock group called Los Fannys that made versions of other artist's songs. Luz formed part of another band too that performed in Asturias, León and Galicia. Nevertheless, she always wanted to be a solo singer.

In 1977, to start her career on the music scene, and after convincing her parents, she went to Madrid, where she made her first recording called: "La guapa" ( The beautiful), and made contact with a lot of record labels until an independent production company gave her an auditon as a backing singer, which is how she entered the world of professional music. She was a backing singer for mand artist's recordings, in fact she accompanies Juan Pardo in his live performances. From that moment on, she started composing her first songs, of which she recorded ten, but they were not released. In these years, she made her only appearance in the theatre, taking the role of Raquel Meller in the musical "Las Divinas" (The Divines), performed in the Reina Victoria theatre in Madrid.

In 1980 she relased her first single with a multinational company, "El ascensor" (The elevator), a song with a strong Reggae flavour as a tribute to Bob Marley. She took part in many festivals held in a lot of countries and took dance classes with Karen Taft, Arnold Taraborelli, Lindsay Kemp, Merche Esmeralda amd Goyo Montero.

In 1981, seeking less control over her private life, she joined the company Zafiro and took part in the live album published by the group Leño. The following year she started the recording of her first solo album, en Madrid, Brussels and Amsterdam, which was relased in September of 1982 and was named: "Luz". The album was produced by Carlos Narea, and included songs composed by herself and by Roque Navaja. She apperared for the first time in a TV program, and participated in a book-album of the poet Xaime Noguerol. In 1983 she recorded the video of the Maxi single "No aguanto más" (I can't stand anymore), then she started making live performances and took part in the tour The rock of a summer night, with Miguel Ríos and Leño, whom with she performed in 35 cities of Spain.

In 1984 she relased her second album, "Los ojos del gato" (The eyes of the cat), recorded in Spain, Belgium and Germany. Some of the songs, written by Ramoncín and Hilario Camacho, started being listened in the whole Europe. Luz kept on studying: piano, chorus and performance. Luz III, relased a y year later, in 1985, contains a very popular track called "Rufino", by Carmen Santonja (Member of Vainica Doble). That year she performed in a festival held in Czechoslovakia, with artists from other countries; Luz still remembers the impact of listening "No aguanto más" and "Ciudad sin ley" (Lawless city) being played by an orchestra with Wind instruments. In 1986 she gave more than 90 concerts and performed again for Czech Television. In Germany she recorded the song "The water is life", for an environmental campaign, with stars such as Mark Knopfler.

In 1987 she recorded an a capella song with the group 'The Christians' for a television program and in May of that year, her next album "Quiéreme aunque te duela" (Love me although it hurts you), was launched, in which she started to be less of a rocker and discovered herself as a great ballad performer, ballads that would be the greatest hits of that era. She participated in the TV program "¡Qué noche la de aquel año!" (¡How incredible was that year's night!), that was hosted by Miguel Ríos, then she travelled to México, Venezuela and New York.

In 1988 she appeared in the TV program "Viaje con nosotros" (Travel with us), by Javier Gurruchaga (Lead singer of La orquesta Mondragón, and in a benefit gig in Seville, she performed a Tango version of Quiereme aunque te duela.

Massive Success

In 1989 she released with her new company Hispavox, Luz V, produced por Paco Trinidad and Chucho Merchán, an habitual musician of Eurythmics. The album, which sold over 300,000 copies and was her definitive leap to stardom, includes two of the most important songs of the history of Spain, "Te dejé marchar" (I let you go) and "No me importa nada" (Nothing matters for me). That year she took part in a festival held in Chile in favour of the Human rights, among artists and groups such as Sting or U2.

In 1991 Luz, released "A contraluz" (Behind the light), which sold over 400,000 copies, obtaining four platinium albums. In this album, is important, the bolero "Piensa en mí" (Think of me), by Agustín Lara, which was chosen by Pedro Almodóvar for his film Tacones Lejanos.This massive hit made her a European superstar especially admired in France. Following this, Luz took a four year break away from the recording studies, a time when she started thinking about her career because of that succes, but she kept on performing in Spain, Latin America, France and other European countries.

Her next album, that was titled: "Como la flor prometida" (Like the promised flower), was released in 1995, four years after her previous album. This sold over 800,000 copies, being the most successful album of her career. In 1996 she released a compilation album, "Pequeños y grandes éxitos" (Hits great and small). Two years later, she released another compilation album, only in France, Luz Casal, that sold in that country more than 400,000 copies and included 2 songs in French, Tu ne l'emporteras pas and Entre mes souvenirs, versions of "No me importa nada" and "Entre mis recuerdos" respectively, performed in the Olympia Theatre of Paris and becomes the first Spanish pop singer filling during five years, between the 24 and el 28 of October, La Cigalle theatre.

In 1999 after four years without having released anything because the death of her father, she recorded "Un mar de confianza" (A sea of trust), which sold over 600,000 copies. That year, the song "Mi confianza" (My trust) was awarded the Ondas award in the category of the best song and started a European tour, performing in France, Italy, Switzerland and Belgium. She collaborated with an album by Rosendo called "Siempre hay una historia" (There's always a story), recorded in the Carabanchel prison. In 2001 she received the Goya award in the category of the best original song, soundrack of the animation film "El bosque animado" (The living forest] .

In November of 2002 Luz released the album "Con otra mirada" (With another look), with sales of sold 150,000 copies, and in October of 2004 she released the album "Sencilla alegría" (Single happiness), recorded in Du Manoir studio with production by Javier Limón. The album, which sold over 150,000 copies and in which Luz offers an incredible voice, includes influences from Flamenco and Jazz and also features Chris Barron (from The Spin Doctors), Jerry González, Olivier Durán, Pablo Guerrero, Rui Veloso, Niño Josele, Quique González and Pablo Novoa. This album includes Negra Sombra, a poem by Rosalía de Castro set to music by Juan Montes Capón, that would be the main soundtrack from Mar adentro, by Alejandro Amenábar.

Having overcome breast cancer, on October 12 Luz released a new single "Se feliz" (Be happy) from her new album, "Vida tóxica" (Toxic life), inspired by her experience of chemotherapy. The album appeared in November 2007.

Discography

Singles

* No aguanto mas (1982)
* Eres tu (1982)
* Ciudad sin ley (1982)
* Los ojos del gato (1984)
* Detrás de tu mirada (1984)
* Secreto (1984)
* Voy a por ti (1985)
* Rufino (1985)
* Hechizado (1985)
* Quiéreme aunque te duela (1987)
* Un día marrón (1987)
* Que rabia (1987)
* Te dejé marchar (1988)
* Loca (1989)
* No me importa nada (1989)
* El tren (1990)
* He visto un angel (1990)
* Piensa en mi (1991)
* Un pedazo de cielo (1991)
* Un año de amor (1991)
* Es por ti (1992)
* Tal para cual (1992)
* Entre mis recuerdos (1995)
* Lo eres todo (1995)
* Besaré el suelo (1995)
* Plantado en mi cabeza (1996)
* Te ofrezco lo que tengo (1996)
* Mi confianza (1999)
* Sentir (2000)
* Quisiera ser y no puedo (2000)
* Inesperadamente (2000)
* Ni tu ni yo (2002)
* Dame un beso (2003)
* A veces un cielo (2003)
* Un nuevo dia brillará (2004)
* Sencilla alegría (2005)
* Mi memoria (2005)
* Se feliz (2007)
* Soy (2008)

Albums

* El ascensor (Single) (1980)
* Luz (1982)
* Los ojos del gato (1984)
* Luz III (1985)
* Quiéreme aunque te duela (1987)
* Luz V (1989)
* A contraluz (1991)
* Como la flor prometida (1995)
* Un mar de confianza (2000)
* Con otra mirada (2002)
* Sencilla alegría (2005)
* Vida tóxica (2007)

Compilation albums

* Pequeños y grandes éxitos (1996)
* Pequeños, medianos y grandes éxitos (2006)

Albums relased in France

* The best of Luz Casal (1998)
* Pequeños, medianos y grandes éxitos (French edition) (2006)

Soundtracks

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103030 Tacones lejanos] (1991)
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310790 El Bosque animado] (2001)

External links

* [http://www.luzcasal.es Official Homepage]
*
* [http://www.europopmusic.eu/Spain_pages/Casal.html Luz Casal on Europopmusic.eu] (English)
* [http://www.boimorto.org/es/xente-luzcasal.html Boimorto info (in Spanish)]
* [http://www.morkol.com/index.php/artistas/videos_letras_canciones/?nombre=Piensa%20en%20mi&id=403 Luz Casal at Morkol.com] Listen the songs and read the lyrics.