José Luis Perales
Who is José Luis Perales?
José Luis Perales (Castejón, Cuenca, January 18, 1945) is a Spanish singer-songwriter of ballads and melodic songs. As a child he learned musical notation and was already playing the lute at age six. At sixteen he won a scholarship to study industrial electrical engineering at the Universidad Laboral in Seville, where a group of classmates taught him his first guitar chords, the instrument he would use throughout his career.
After finishing his studies he settled in Madrid, where he combined work as an electrician with songwriting, including “Niebla,” one of his earliest melodies. His meeting in 1970 with producer Rafael Trabucchelli marked a turning point: although Perales was reluctant to sing himself, being a reserved man who prized family life above all, Trabucchelli convinced him to take the stage.
Career
His first great success as a songwriter came with “¿Por qué te vas?,” recorded by Jeanette, which sold four million copies worldwide in a single year and which Carlos Saura featured in the film “Cría cuervos.” As a performer, his first LP (1973-74) included “Celos de mi guitarra,” a song that earned him his first gold record in Argentina in 1974 and became a hit in both Spain and Latin America.
Over more than three decades he has released 27 albums and registered more than 450 songs with Spain’s copyright society, the SGAE, selling over 50 million copies and earning more than a hundred gold and platinum records. He has also written for artists such as Isabel Pantoja, Raphael, Miguel Bosé, Julio Iglesias, Rocío Jurado, Jeanette and Paloma San Basilio. “¿Por qué te vas?” has been covered by more than forty artists and sold over six million copies in Germany and Austria alone.
Notable discography
His international recognition includes a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Album for “Sueño de libertad” (1988) and a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Singer-Songwriter Album for “Navegando por ti” (2006). In 2008 he recorded a live double album, “En vivo. 35 años,” at the Teatro Gran Rex in Buenos Aires — a 21-song compilation of his repertoire that earned him a new gold record in 2009.
Personal life
Perales has been married for more than thirty years to Manuela, to whom he credits much of his personal stability, and has two children, Pablo and María. He divides his time between Madrid and his native Castejón, where he often retreats to compose. True to his commitment to charity, he donates the rights of one song from each album to the SOS Children’s Villages organization.