Colombian Grammy award winner Juanes is to finish his world tour in his home town of the country’s second largest city Medellin on December 15 and 16 after the release of his new live album, MTV Unplugged.
The three time Latin Grammy Award winner and one time Grammy Award winner, born Juan Esteban Aristizabal, embarked on a worldwide tour after the release of his third live album “MTV Unplugged.”
The tour consists of stops in Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin and London amongst many other cities around the globe. Juanes will begin the third and final leg of his tour throughout Colombia starting off in the capital Bogota and continuing to the cities of Villavicencio, Bucaramanga, Cali, Cartagena and Barranguilla, before ending his 47-leg tour in Medellin.
The album and live DVD was recorded in Miami Beach (where the singer will also be performing a gig during his tour) on February 1, 2012 by MTV as the latest in a long line of broad-casted concerts featuring artists of all genres and all corners of the world since it was first aired in 1989.
As the name “unplugged” suggests, the album incorporates solely acoustic instrumentals and is known for its use of visually atmospheric sets, such as the legendary “Nirvana MTV Unplugged” recording in 1993 and urges artists to use a wide range of instruments and acoustic techniques such as “Neil Young Unplugged,” also recorded in 1993.
The invitation from MTV is seen as the mainstream music industry’s acceptance of Juanes as a global star, one to be reckoned with and as an ambassador for the Latin American mainstream music scene.
Speaking in an interview shortly before recording the album, Juanes said, “You know, it’s scary, but it’s kind of what I’m looking for now, just to take the risk and go to different places and try different things. So it’s not about fear, it’s more about risk.”
Juanes began his music career in the Colombian band Ekhymosis, starting out as a Thrash metal quartet influenced by the metal scene specifically of California throughout the 90s, finding relatively large success in Colombia before evolving to incorporate almost entirely the Latin influences of their native country.
After Ekhymosis disbanded, Aristizabal began writing his own music, adopting the stage name Juanes.
While he is generally known on a global scale as a pop artist, Latin influence is apparent instrumentally throughout all of the artists’ work. He is credited with embracing the evolution of traditional Latino guitar music and the occasional use of electric guitars.
Lyrically, Juanes favors the oh–so–abundant subjects of lost love and feisty women, however he is favoured throughout Latin America for addressing political issues and doing a lot of work with humanitarian charities, especially charities providing aid for Colombian victims of anti-personnel mines, a cause he later founded the Mi Sangre Foundation for.
