Manu Chao Mini Biography

Manu Chao (born José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao on June 21, 1961 in Paris, France) is a French born singer of Spanish origin. He sings in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese and occasionally in a number of other languages. Chao began his musical career with Hot Pants, a French band that combined several musical styles and languages. The musician then founded the band Mano Negra with several friends in 1987, becoming a solo artist after it disbanded.
Manu Chao sings in the French, Spanish, Galician, Portuguese, Arabic, English and Wolof languages, often mixing them in the same song. His music has many influences: punk, rock, French chanson, Iberoamerican salsa, reggae, ska, and Algerian raï. These influences were obtained from immigrants in France, his Iberian relations, and foremost his travels in Mesoamerica as a nomad following the disbanding of Mano Negra.

Many of Chao's lyrics are about love, living in ghettos, immigration, and often carry a left-wing message. This reflects Chao's own political leanings—he is very close to the Zapatistas and its public spokesman, Subcomandante Marcos. His band Mano Negra is possibly a reference to an anarchist group. He has many followers among the European left and the anti-globalization movement. Punk and reggae historian Vivien Goldman commented of his work, "I was writing about Good Charlotte and The Police. They adopted the trappings of punk. They aren’t bad groups, but the punk aspect is more manifested by somebody like Manu Chao. He’s one of the punkiest artists out there I can think of. It's an inclusionary spirit that is punk."

Manu Chao performs in Paris, France

Chao also has a tendency to reuse music or lyrics from previous songs to form new songs. The hit single "Bongo Bong," in contemporary French style, takes its lyrics from the earlier Mano Negra hit "King of the Bongo," which owes more to The Clash. The musical backdrop for "Bongo Bong," in turn, was used in several other Chao songs, including "Je ne t'aime plus" from the same album and "Mr Bobby" and "Homens" from Próxima Estación: Esperanza. The music from that album's "La Primavera" is used in several other songs on that album, while lyrics for a few songs on Sibérie m'était contéee are repeated several times with different music, leading the lyrics to be interpreted in various ways depending on the mood of the track. Several musical themes and clips from that album also appear on Amadou & Mariam's Chao-produced Dimanche à Bamako, which were being produced at approximately the same time.

Though Manu Chao is one of the world's best selling artists, he is less well-known in the English-speaking world.[citation needed] Tours in the United States with Mano Negra never led to much success in that country, and Chao seems inclined to focus his efforts in Europe and Latin America, where his musical style finds its roots. Though his live performances in the U.S. are exceedingly rare, Chao played a handful of dates in that country in 2006, including a headlining spot at Lollapalooza 2006. His final appearance on his 2006 U.S. tour was a benefit concert in the Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn, New York on August 7. He returned to that venue in the summer of 2007 for two concerts, part of the multicultural "Celebrate Brooklyn" concert series. The crowd was treated to a nearly two-hour performance, including two encores. Manu Chao also appeared at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland to a sellout crowd on June 23, 2007. This was a semi-spontaneous endeavour between Thievery Corporation and Manu Chao facilitated by a new-found friendship developed during Lollapalooza 2006. He was one of the headlining acts at the 2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival and the Outside Lands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park.