Carlos Vives

Hailing from Colombia, Carlos Vives has established himself as a singer, songwriter, and actor who has captured multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy trophies. His command of vallenato, porro, cumbia, and champeta stands alongside his fluency in pop, rock, and reggaeton, a breadth that has driven tens of millions of recordings sold and videos that routinely accumulate billions of views. Active since 1986, he launched his recording career with Por Fuera y por Dentro while still enjoying success as an actor in telenovelas and films. The 1992 release Clásicos de la Provincia moved more than 1.2 million copies inside Colombia, and Déjame Entrar earned the Grammy for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album in 2002, an achievement matched in 2015 when Más + Corazón Profundo received the award for Best Tropical Latin Album. Beyond those honors, he has collected numerous Latin Grammys across more than thirty nominations and has also taken home several Premios Nuestra Tierra. His video collaborations with Sebastian Yatra on “Robarte un Beso” and with Shakira on “La Bicicleta” each surpassed a billion views and reached the summit of the Latin Songs charts. Billboard placed him at number 45 on its list of the Top Latin Artists of the 2010s in 2019. The next year he secured another Latin Grammy for Best Tropical Song with “Canción Para Rubén,” recorded with Rubén Blades for the album Cumbiana. In 2021 he delivered the Latin Grammy-winning single “Canción Bonita” alongside Ricky Martin and supplied the theme song for Disney’s animated feature Encanto.

Born in 1961 in Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia, Vives relocated with his family to Bogotá at age twelve, where he first absorbed rock & roll and performed as lead vocalist and guitarist in several garage bands. He earned a marketing degree from Jorge Tadeo Lozano University. While music remained a sideline, acting drew his interest; in 1982 he secured roles in the Colombian films Tiempo Sin Huella and a Spanish-language adaptation of David Copperfield, in which he portrayed the adult lead. His profile expanded through subsequent work in Puerto Rican television and more than a dozen additional films.

After assembling the band La Provincia, the singer and guitarist began interpreting the national style vallenato, touring successfully throughout Colombia and South America. Among the half-dozen albums that followed were No Podrás Escapar de Mí in 1987 and the 1993 collection Clásicos de la Provincia, a set of vallenato standards that became his commercial breakthrough, certified multi-platinum domestically and platinum in the United States. “La Gota Fria” arrived in 1994 as his first major single, ascending to the top of most Latin charts. La Tierra del Olvido in 1995 signaled a gradual shift: alongside continued recordings of both classic and contemporary vallenato material, the album introduced the first of his own compositions.

Under the banner Unete a los Locales, Vives founded his own imprint, Gaira, in 1996 to support and encourage local talent, even as he maintained his association with EMI. In 1998 he shared a stage with fellow Colombian headliners Shakira and Charlie Zaa at a benefit concert for victims of the earthquake that devastated the country’s coffee-growing regions. The hit album El Amor de Mi Tierra appeared in 1999 and earned a 2000 Grammy nomination for Best Latin Album.

Déjame Entrar, released in 2001, brought Vives his first Grammy for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album. He altered course with 2004’s En Rock de Mi Pueblo, infusing vallenato rhythms with rock & roll and rap; the set received a Grammy nomination the following year. A contractual dispute with EMI ensued, resulting in a five-year recording hiatus. Clásicos de la Provincia II surfaced in 2009 as a limited release of early vallenato and traditional songs available solely through a Colombian supermarket chain.

Vives resurfaced in 2012 as a coach on the Colombian edition of The Voice. With prior contractual issues resolved, he signed with Sony and issued the single “Volví a Nacer” in fall 2012, which debuted at number one on multiple international charts. Corazón Profundo followed in January 2013 and likewise topped the charts; it was succeeded by the hit “Como le Gusta a Tu Cuerpo,” featuring Michel Teló, as touring commenced. While on the road he continued recording, releasing Más Corazón Profundo in 2014, which contained new material including duets with Choc Quib Town and Marc Anthony, extended mixes of prior singles, and a fresh version of “Volví a Nacer.” In summer 2015 he issued the live audio and video document Más + Corazón Profundo Tour: En Vivo Desde la Bahiá de Santa Marta. The fifteenth studio album, simply titled Vives, arrived in 2017 and featured the single “La Bicicleta” with Shakira; the track reached number two on Hot Latin Songs while the album peaked at the same position on Top Latin Albums, its video eventually surpassing 1.2 billion views, a milestone matched by another single from the project, “Robarte Un Beso” with Sebastian Yatra. Additional singles from the album continued to chart via streaming throughout the ensuing year.

Following a world tour in 2019, Vives issued several duet recordings, among them “Si Me Das Tu Amor” featuring Wisin and “Indira II” featuring Gusi. After Billboard named him one of its Top Latin Artists of the 2010s, he opened the next decade with charting singles such as “No Estas Solo: Canciones Para Es Enfermos” with Rubén Blades and “No Te Vayas,” the latter climbing to number four on the Hot 100 in May. A remix with Manuel Turizo appeared shortly afterward and quickly became an international club success. Cumbiana emerged in 2020, further incorporating Latin pop and reggaeton elements; the set included “Canción Para Rubén,” again with longtime friend Rubén Blades, which captured the Latin Grammy for Best Tropical Song. In April 2021 Vives teamed with Ricky Martin for “Canción Bonita,” and later that year he performed the Lin-Manuel Miranda-penned theme for the Disney animated film Encanto. Over the subsequent two years he released a range of singles, including the 2022 collaboration “Baloncito Viejo” with Camilo and 2023’s “Las Mujeres” with Juanes.