La Oreja de Van Gogh

La Oreja de Van Gogh
From left to right: Pablo Benegas, Xabi San Martín, Leire Martínez, Harítz Garde and Alvaro Fuentes.
Background information
Also known as	LOVG
Origin	San Sebastián, Guipuzcoa, Basque Country, Spain
Genres	Pop/Pop-Rock[1] Rock en español[1]
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Sony Music
Website	La Oreja de Van Gogh
Members
Pablo Benegas (guitar) Álvaro Fuentes (bass) Xabi San Martín (keyboards) Haritz Garde (drums) Leire Martínez (vocals)
Past members
Amaia Montero (vocals) (1996-2007)

La Oreja de Van Gogh (English: Van Gogh's Ear) is a Latin Grammy-winning and Grammy-nominated Spanish pop band from Donostia-San Sebastian. The name of the band refers to the famous post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh who cut off the lobe of his own ear. Their characteristically poetic songs (both lyrics and music) are written mainly by band members Pablo Benegas, Xabi San Martín and Amaia Montero. The themes of their songs typically include love, friendship and relationships. Since their debut, they have sold more than 6 million copies worldwide of their albums.

In November 2007, lead singer Amaia Montero announced that she would be leaving the group to begin a solo career.^[2] Her replacement, Leire Martínez, was announced in July 2008, along with the band's first single "El Último Vals" from their album titled A las cinco en el Astoria which was released on September 2, 2008. Leire was discovered on the Spanish reality show Factor X.^[3]

History

Fronted by Amaia Montero

"Los Sin Nombre" (Those Without Name) was the original name of the band when it was formed by the four men of the group while in college : Xabi San Martín, Pablo Benegas, Álvaro Fuentes and Haritz Garde. They recorded covers of songs from bands like U2 or Pearl Jam. They met Amaia Montero at a friend's party, and after listening to her singing "Nothing Compares 2 U" (Sinéad O'Connor), Benegas convinced her to join the group. After several meetings in local cafés, they decided on the name that Amaia preferred, "La Oreja de Van Gogh" (Van Gogh's Ear), an allusion to the famous painter's cutting of his own ear.

They won a pop-rock music festival in San Sebastián under the new name, and after some calls and hard work, in 1998 they recorded their first album Dile al sol (Tell the Sun). They were successful and rose to fame in 2000 with the publication of El viaje de Copperpot (Copperpot's Journey, a reference to Chester Copperpot in the movie "The Goonies"). Three years later, they published Lo que te conté mientras te hacías la dormida (What I Told You While You Were Sleeping) and in 2006, they published Guapa (Beautiful).

Fronted by Leire Martínez

In 2007, Amaia Montero left the group and Xabi, Pablo, Álvaro and Haritz held an audition looking for a new vocalist. In July 2008 they presented Leire Martínez as the new vocalist and the new song "El Último Vals" as the first single of their new album A las cinco en el Astoria (At Five O'Clock At the Astoria).

The group before 2007, with Amaia Montero as singer.

Discography

Studio albums

• 1998: Dile al sol
• 2000: El viaje de Copperpot
• 2003: Lo que te conté mientras te hacías la dormida
• 2006: Guapa/Más Guapa
• 2008: A las Cinco en el Astoria
• 2009: Nuestra casa a la izquierda del tiempo
• 2011: Cometas por el cielo

Compilations

• 2003: La Oreja de Van Gogh - Gira 2003
• 2004: París (Lo que te conté mientras te hacías la dormida French edition)
• 2006: LOVG 1996-2006
• 2008: LOVG - Grandes éxitos

Filmography

• 1999: Dile al sol - VHS
• 2002: El viaje de Copperpot - VHS & DVD
• 2003: Lo que te conté mientras te hacías la dormida, Gira 2003 CD+DVD
• 2010: Un viaje por el Mar Muerto, their first full-length feature film, which was filmed in Israel in collaboration with other artists. Included as a bonus disc in the special edition of Nuestra casa a la izquierda del tiempo.

Tours

• 1999-2000: Dile al Sol Tour
• 2001-2002: El Viaje de Copperpot Tour
• 2003: Gira Movistar Activa
• 2003-2005: Lo que te conté mientras te hacías la dormida Tour
• 2006-2007: Guapa Seat Tour
• 2007: Gira LKXA
• 2009: A las cinco en el Astoria Tour
• 2009: Juntos e Inolvidable Tour
• 2009 - 2010: Nuestra casa a la izquierda del tiempo

Songs for other artists

• "Ni Una Sola Palabra" - Paulina Rubio
• "Amores Dormidos" - Edurne
• "Qué Va A Ser" - Fran Perea
• "Adelante" (BBVA theme song) - Naiara

References

1. ^ ^{a b} http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll
2. ^ "Amaia Montero leaves La Oreja de Van Gogh (in Spanish)". ElMundo.es. 2007-10-19. http://elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/11/19/cultura/1195476384.html. 
3. ^ Leire Martínez, nueva cantante de La Oreja de Van Gogh · ELPAÍS.com