María del Rosario González Flores, better known as Rosario, was born November 4, 1963 in Madrid, Spain. She grew up in a family of renowned Spanish Gypsy performers. She is the youngest daughter of one of Spain’s most famous pop stars during the late 20th century, Lola Flores, also known as La Faraona. Her father Antonio Gonzalez was known as El Pescailla.
“I was born in Madrid. My mother and father was a couple of artists that devoted their lives to art. My mother was a great artist. The most charismatic figure and the most popular in Spain, this is why they called her La Faraona [The Pharaohness] or Lola from Spain.”
I grew up rapidly, I was the youngest of the family taking part of artist gatherings accompanied by guitars and submerged on magical flamenco chanting.
My father was the creator of the Catalan rumba which he created inspired in geniuses of Caribbean music such as Compay Segundo. His artistic name was El Pescadilla, his style was the one the Gypsy Kings made popular around the world, in a modern version that is.”
Art and music are revealed in each and every one of Rosario’s productions. She was predestined to be the artist she has become. She initiated in the artistic world at the short age of five taking part in a dozen movies and television series such as Al fin solos (Alone at Last), Cale Mariana Pineda (a masterpiece of Federico Garcia Lorca) among others.
Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, Camaron, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Rolling Stones, Carole King, etc. are great musicians that have become part of her life. Her harmonious personality is a result of this fusion of cultures and styles including bossa nova, funk, Gypsy rumba and contemporary pop. An exceedingly music blend is what Rosario has established as being her most authentic expression. According to the singer Camaron de la Isla she is a genius for the flamenco history.
Her recording career begun in 1992 with the album De Ley (About Law), ongoing with Siento (I Feel) in 1994 and later on came Mucho por Vivir (Much to Love) in 1996.
Subsequently, she published Jugar a la Locura (Playing Insanity) in which Rosario wrote ten of the eleven songs and for which she was nominated for a Latin Grammy. This was an electrifying album, a bit of a rocker, full of energy power and sentiment. She sold over 1 million copies out of these first productions only in Spain.
“I don’t want to look back, I’m going forward with no repudiations of my origins because there is nobody that will take away my blood. I miss Antonio, my brother, who always helped me and died very young. He was one of the biggest Spanish musicians and singers of the new generation. I’m devoted to the stage because I think my parents brought me to this world to sing and act: this is my life.”
“My production Muchas Flores (Bunch of Flowers) is a music evolution; it’s made up of bolero, bossa nova, Catalan and Caribbean rumba as well as pop-for the good music lovers. This album is alive, acoustic in presence and essence, enclosing my own lyrics as well as my friends’ Calamaro, Jorge Drexler among others.” The album also includes flamenco blues guitarist Raimundo Amador as well as Antonio Carmona and Jose Miguel Carmona, guitar Ketama’s guitar player.
Rosario has sold about five million copies of Muchas Flores, an album that got her a 2002 Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Album. She also obtained a Premio de la Musica award as Best Song for Como quieres que te quiera (How do you want me to love you).
Hand in hand with acclaimed film director Almodovar she played the roll of a bullfighter in the film Hable con Ella: the outcome was as celebrated as her album. In January 2003 Hable con Ella obtained the Golden Globe Award for Best Film, an award that preludes the Oscars in the US. The film was also nominated for the 2002 Oscars for Best Director and Best Original Script.
De Mil Colores (In a thousand colors) was released in 2004. The album is a blend of rumba and bossa nova, Andalucia and Brazil, the flamenco guitar and the Cuban tres, funk and ballads. The album was produced entirely by Fernando Illen with Antonio Carmona’s collaboration in two songs. Rosario also shared her inspiration writing five of the 11 tracks included in the record.
Discography:
De Ley (1992)
Siento (1995)
Mucho Por Vivir (1996)
Jugar a la Locura (1999)
Muchas Flores (Sony, 2001)
De Mil Colores (2004)
Contigo Me Voy (2006)
Parte de Mí (2008)
Cuéntame, TV soundtrack (2009)
Raskatriski (2011)
Rosario (2013)
Gloria a ti (2016)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
