Originating in Madrid, Spain, the pop-rock group El Canto del Loco—whose name translates as “Song of the Madman”—began when two acting students, Daniel Martín García (Dani Martín) and Iván Alejandro Ganchegui, bonded over a shared taste for Spanish power pop. Guitarist David Otero, drummer Alejandro Velázquez Insua (Jandro), and bassist José María Ruiz Casares (Chema Ruiz) soon completed the lineup. After cutting a demo and securing a deal with BMG-Ariola, the band recorded its self-titled debut under producer Alejo Stivel; the set introduced the group’s first hit, “Pequeñita,” and contained a cover of Camilo Sesto’s “Vivir Asi Es Morir de Amor.”
Issued in March 2002 and helmed by Nigel Walker—known for his work with La Oreja de Van Gogh and others—the follow-up A Contracorriente surpassed 85,000 copies and peaked at number ten on the Spanish sales chart. Ganchegui’s subsequent exit left the quartet intact. Their third album, Estados de Ánimo, again produced by Nigel Walker, appeared in 2003, climbed to number four, sold more than 100,000 units, and earned Platinum status. Early the next year the band issued the Barcelona concert recording En Directo Bikini 30-12-2003.
The 2005 studio album Zapatillas, led by its title track as a single, topped the chart after moving over 100,000 copies in its opening week and solidified the group’s standing; they subsequently joined Hombres G on a nationwide tour. Following the live collections Pequeños Grandes Directos and Directo Desde la Sala Oasis, the fifth studio effort Personas arrived in April 2008 amid high anticipation and confirmed El Canto del Loco as the leading act in early-2000s Spanish pop. Later that year the band performed at the first Spanish edition of Rock in Rio and issued a deluxe reissue, De Personas a Personas, that added six tracks. In 2009 a documentary also titled Personas was released, while two further albums appeared: the Buenos Aires live set Radio La Colifata Presenta and the covers collection Por Mi y por Todos Mis Compañeros.
The following year the members chose to disband so they could focus on solo work. Dani Martín released the solo album Pequeño, and Chema Ruiz formed Belgrado, whose self-titled debut surfaced in 2011.
