Chico & The Gypsies

After clashing with Gipsy Kings manager Claude Martinez in 1991, founding member Jahloul "Chico" Bouchikhi launched Chico & the Gypsies. Their first album, Vagabundo, moved more than 200,000 copies in short order. The son of North African immigrants, Bouchikhi crossed paths with the children of Gypsy singer Jose Reyes at the age of twelve. He passed countless hours at the Reyes encampment and became self-taught on guitar by seventeen. Marriage to Reyes’ daughter Marthe further cemented his place in the family. Before his death, Reyes chose Bouchikhi to lead the family band. Performing first as Los Reyes, the musicians played the Saint Tropez beaches each summer. The name change to Gipsy Kings in 1983 helped them nurture a devoted audience, yet commercial breakthroughs stayed elusive. The Reyes brothers stepped away from music temporarily in 1986. Bouchikhi alone continued living in a Gypsy caravan beneath the Arles Bridge. In 1988 he staged a Romany Arts Festival. Rejoining the Gipsy Kings in 1989, he guided the group toward international markets and eight strong-selling albums between 1988 and 1991. After leaving the Gipsy Kings that same year, Bouchikhi assembled Chico & the Gypsies from players in Arles and Montpelier. He remains UNESCO’s special envoy for peace.