Pasión Vega

Born in Madrid on April 23, 1976, Ana Maria Alias Vega adopted the stage name Pasión Vega and spent her childhood in Malaga, where her earliest public performances took place in church choirs and modest Christian ensembles. While still a teenager she contributed vocals to recordings by the Christian collective Los Misioneros de la Esperanza (MIES). Entry into professional studios came after repeated victories in a local radio contest whose prize was a properly produced single; the successive wins drew notice from regional industry figures and led to further festival appearances that attracted both crowds and print coverage. Her first solo project, the 1996 album Un Toque de Distincion, appeared on the Sevillian imprint La Voz del Sur and was followed by two more releases on the same label, Con al Alma en los Labios in 1997 and Corona de Perlas in 2000. Strong regional sales prompted the multinational BMG to sign her, resulting in a self-titled major-label debut in 2001. Subsequent Sony/BMG releases expanded her reach abroad, beginning with Banderas de Nadie in 2003. The next studio album, Flaca de Amor, registered on Billboard’s Top European Albums chart. Issued in 2006, La Reina del Pay-Pay incorporated jazz, tropical, and blues textures while featuring songs from leading Spanish writers including Joaquín Sabina and Pancho Varona. A collection of covers, Gracias a la Vida, arrived in 2009, with Sin Compasión following in 2011 and the retrospective Grandes Éxitos appearing in 2012. Live documents include En el Maestranza from 2005 and En Buenos Aires from 2009, the latter tied to the 2008 South American compilation Pura Pasión. In 2010 Vega received the Medal of Andalusia in recognition of her artistic accomplishments.