Juan Luis Guerra

Juan Luis Guerra is a best-selling, award-winning Dominican singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer. With his smooth, multi-octave range and soulful delivery, he has sold over 70 million records globally, and won many industry awards including a whopping 24 Latin Grammys. He and his band 440 are beloved across the Latin music world for their innovations in merengue, and for resurrecting bachata as a commercial force. His sound weaves elements of bolero, salsa, early rock & roll, and even gospel into his mix. He started the 1990s as the hottest property in the international Latin market with a fusion of pop, merengue, and bachata dubbed "World Latin Music." Guerra joined the Latin vocal group 440 and provided lead vocals on their successful album Ojalá Que Llueva Café. Guerra y 440 released many hits, like "Burbujas de Amor" and "La Bilirrubina" from Bachata Rosa. Areito spawned seven hit singles and won three Latin Grammys. He won Album of the Year at the 2015 Latin Grammys for Todo Tiene Su Hora and delivered the hit LP Literal in 2019. In 2021, he received another trio of Latin Grammys for the Prive EP. Following a trilogy of duet singles in 2023 -- including "Cecilia" with Juanes -- Guerra y 440 issued the live Concierto Aniversario. Born Juan Luis Guerra Seijas in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, Guerra is one of three sons born to Gilberto Guerra Pacheco, and Olga Seijas Herrero. Guerra was not interested in music as a child. He studied philosophy and literature at the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, and later entered formal guitar studies and music theory courses at the Dominican Republic's National Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Santo Domingo. He moved to the United States to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston, graduating in 1982 with a degree in jazz composition. He returned to the Dominican Republic and formed a local band. Juan Guerra y 440 released Soplando, his debut album, in 1984. The number refers to the standard tuning of A440. The band's name in Spanish is Cuatro Cuarenta ("Four Forty"). That first album was based on jazz tunes and concepts learned at Berklee, and wasn't intended for commercial release; subsequently, he began to write more merengues. In 1983, after a performance in front of the Dominican entrepreneur Bienvenido Rodríguez, Guerra y 440 were signed to Karen Records and formally shifted musical styles to merengue. They cut two albums for Karen: Mudanza y Acarreo (1985) and Mientras Más Lo Pienso...Tú (1987). The albums (and the support gigs they played almost constantly) won them a nomination and invitation to attend and perform at the Festival of OTI (Organization of Iberoamerican Television), representing the Dominican Republic. The band then released Ojalá Que Llueva Café with Guerra as 440's primary vocalist. The album secured them an even larger audience and charted in several Latin American countries. His 1990 album, Bachata Rosa, delivered five hit singles and sold over five million copies. While 1992’s Areito was controversial for its political angle (additionally, it contained an award-winning single and video in "El Costo de la Vida"), it merely revealed another dimension of his artistry. 2004's Para Ti and 2007's La Llave de Mi Corazón were certified multi-platinum and netted Guerra a combined five Grammys and Latin Grammys. 2010's A Son de Guerra was certified two-times platinum and won three Latin Grammys. 2014's Todo Tiene Su Hora topped the Latin album charts and landed in the top half of the Top 200. Its momentum was due in large part to the international smash hit single "Tus Besos" that cannily wed bachata, doo wop, and early rock & roll. The wildly diverse and wonderfully optimistic Literal appeared in 2019 to rave reviews and brisk sales; it peaked at number seven on the tropical albums chart. Guerra is the son of a professional baseball player and grew up next to the National Music Gallery. As a teen, he was influenced by the Beatles and the music of U.S. hippies. Initially, he taught himself the basics of guitar playing, but after winning a contest, he attended the National Conservatory on a scholarship. One of his instructors then helped him get into the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts and introduced him to the many genres of jazz. He started to miss the Dominican Republic and returned. He experimented with blending local African-influenced music, folk songs, and jazz with 440. The band takes its name from the universal tuning pattern of the "A" note, 440 Hertz, and the name was chosen by Guerra's brother, José Gilberto, who used to sit and watch them rehearse. One day he noticed that they seemed so obsessed with staying in perfect tune that he suggested the name "440." Their debut album, Soplando, made little impact. For their next efforts, Mudanza y Acarreo and Mientras Más Lo Pienso Tu, Guerra and 440 added merengue and lightning-quick riffs of "perico ripiao," and suddenly found success with a young crowd tired of hearing the same old thing. The new music, called "bachata-merengue," soon won massive acclaim in the Dominican Republic. The group was selected by their government to represent the country in the International Music Festival of OTI, the Organization of Ibero American Television. In 1988, Guerra and 440 had one of their biggest hits, Ojalá Que Llueva Café, which became the third best-selling album in Latin America. That year they lost their lead vocalist, Maridalia Hernández, who left to pursue a solo career in Europe; Guerra became the new lead singer. In 1991, they released Bachata Rose. Its five hit singles propelled it to hit status throughout the Americas and netted Guerra his first Grammy in the U.S. The album was particularly popular in Los Angeles and soon Guerra and his band were touring the continental U.S. as well as the Latin tropics. His next album, Areito, caused controversy in the Dominican Republic for speaking out against social injustices that the desperately poor felt Guerra had never personally experienced. Still, he was given credit for his sincerity and interest in improving things in his oft-troubled homeland. Musically, Guerra changed directions again for 1995's Fogaraté by incorporating more of the increasingly popular African soukous music. His 1998 release, Ni Es Lo Mismo Ni Es Igual, garnered three Grammys for Best Merengue Performance, Best Tropical Song for "El Niagara en Bicicleta," and Best Engineered Album at the first annual Latin Grammy Awards late in 2000. After non-stop touring for nearly three years, Guerra took an extended break from recording. He emerged in 2004 with Para Ti, his first new studio material in six years. The album was greeted by widespread critical and popular acclaim. He won two awards at the 2005 Grammys. The single "Las Avispas" won in the Best Gospel Pop and Tropical Merengue categories -- the first time in the award ceremony's history that a song won in two categories simultaneously. Guerra once again toured relentlessly. He appeared alongside a heavyweight roster of stars at the Berklee College of Music's 50th anniversary concert -- Herbie Hancock, Michel Camilo, Pat Metheny, and Paul Simon were also on the bill. He was featured as an opening act on U2's 360 tour as well as on the Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang tour. His next album, La Llave de Mi Corazón, was released in early 2007. It entered the Billboard Latin charts at number one and remained there for four weeks. He won three Latin Grammys for the album. In 2010, he appeared as a duet partner on Enrique Iglesias' single "Cuando Me Enamoro" and appeared in the music video. The record hit the top spot on Billboard's Latin chart and reigned there for 17 weeks. It was followed by a pre-release single, "Bachata en Fukuoka," from the forthcoming Asondeguerra in 2010. The single hit number one, knocking the duet entry from its peak. Guerra's next offering was a live outing that documented the previous album's tour. Titled Asondeguerra Tour, it was released in May of 2013 and included fan favorites; it reached the upper rungs of the Tropical charts. In October of 2014, Guerra released the single and video for "Tus Besos," a bachata track heavily inspired by and flavored with the sound of early-'60s doo wop. Its video continued to garner airplay a full year later, ultimately netting more than 200 million views, while the single hit the top spot on several industry and airplay charts. He followed it with the studio album Todo Tiene Su Hora in November. It was ultimately certified platinum and landed at the top of the charts, netting him a 2015 Latin Grammy for Album of the Year. In 2019, Guerra y 440 hinted to their fan base that an album was about to arrive with the release of the single and video for "Kitipun." Shot in a Tik Tok-esque story style, it quickly ran up streaming charts. The summery full-length Literal, issued in May 2020, showcased a plethora of styles including bachata, merengue, salsa, jazz, and pop. It peaked at seven on the Tropical albums chart, attained gold certification, and earned a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Tropical Latin Album. A live event, Entre Mar y Palmeras, was recorded during Literal's support tour and released in 2022. Guerra issued the commemorative Concierto Aniversario in 2023. Sourced from a 2005 gig at Estadio Olympico, it provided a career overview to that point in his career. He also released three charting duet singles: "Las De Juan Luis" with Luis Segura, "Si Tu Me Quieres" with Luis Fonseca, and "Cecilia" with Juanes. In September, Guerra and 440 returned to making their own records with the burning "Mambo 23" single and video. The latter racked up nearly four million views during its first week while the audio went Top 20 at streaming. The singer noted that the track was his first entry into "mambo merengue" territory. Its release hinted that a new album was in the works: Late 2023 saw the release of the Radio Guira EP.
© Sandra Brennan & Thom Jurek /TiVo