Biography
The profound reach of American Idol across global pop has long been evident to its viewers, an influence mirrored across the franchise’s footprint in more than thirty territories. Norway stands out in this regard, having produced the unexpected champion Kurt Nilsen at the sole World Idol contest staged in 2003; virtually every finalist from the Norwegian edition has since converted that exposure into a substantial recording career. Chilean-born Alejandro Javiero Fuentes, whose hushed and husky delivery placed him third during the 2005 season, issued the soft-pop debut Diamonds or Pearls, which lodged six weeks inside the Norwegian Top Ten, earned gold certification, and yielded the maudlin chart-topping single “Stars.”
The following year Fuentes teamed with three fellow acoustic-guitar artists—Idol winner Nilsen, Askil Holm (previously of Attack), and Espen Lind, the established performer best known internationally for co-writing and playing guitar on Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable”—on a joint tour initially slated for five or six dates yet extended, owing to demand, to thirty. The quartet, informally dubbed the New Guitar Buddies in reference to the earlier supergroup Gitarkameratene that first toured in 1988, issued the live album Hallelujah Live. It became the fastest-selling Norwegian release ever, held the top chart position for thirteen weeks, and contained hit renditions of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer.”
Building on that success, all four members entered 2007 positioned for further individual accomplishments, a trajectory Fuentes sustained with the lush, country-inflected follow-up Tomorrow Only Knows, which included the beat-driven track “Hell If I” that commanded the summit for five weeks.
The following year Fuentes teamed with three fellow acoustic-guitar artists—Idol winner Nilsen, Askil Holm (previously of Attack), and Espen Lind, the established performer best known internationally for co-writing and playing guitar on Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable”—on a joint tour initially slated for five or six dates yet extended, owing to demand, to thirty. The quartet, informally dubbed the New Guitar Buddies in reference to the earlier supergroup Gitarkameratene that first toured in 1988, issued the live album Hallelujah Live. It became the fastest-selling Norwegian release ever, held the top chart position for thirteen weeks, and contained hit renditions of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer.”
Building on that success, all four members entered 2007 positioned for further individual accomplishments, a trajectory Fuentes sustained with the lush, country-inflected follow-up Tomorrow Only Knows, which included the beat-driven track “Hell If I” that commanded the summit for five weeks.
Albums
Singles
