Biography

For more than 30 years the Grammy-nominated, best-selling Jaime y los Chamacos have been a household name for fans of Tejano and conjunto music. Founded in 1982, accordionist and frontman Jaime de Anda, a life-long musician, had been making music with a number of other bands in the region. His quartet was created with the idea of being a great regional dance band, but their live show -- complete with wild dance moves -- became a hit with festival and dancehall fans and soon they were appearing on local and regional television, netting over 30 appearances on the popular Johnny Canales Show. Their long list of hit singles includes "Yolanda," "Como Te Llamas Paloma," "Ex-Novia," "Pajaro Negro," "Un Puno de Tierra," "Un Complejo," "Llevate Tu Corazon," "Amor de Todos," "Amandote," "Los Dos Juramos," and "Amor Libre." Signed by Freddie in 1989, their debut Outrageous was issued in 1990 and interest in the band spread on both sides of the Texas border. Their 1995 set Como Te Llamas Paloma? placed well inside the Top 30 on the Hot Latin Albums charts and at number eight on Regional Mexican Albums and went platinum. A year later, No Se Cansan received a Grammy nomination for Best Mexican American Performance. 1997's live offering En Vivo Puro Party Live was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Mexican/Tejano Performance. Trece received a nomination for Best Tejano Performance in 1998, as did Fanaticos and their self-titled album in 1999 and 2000, respectively. They also received Latin Grammy nods for En Vivo Puro Party Live II in 2000, 2003's Conjunto No Morira, and Freedom Tour 2008. Sales accompanied the nominations. They topped the Tejano charts several times and scored multi-platinum sales in Mexico. The band performed for everyone from Bill & Hillary Clinton to several Texas and Mexican state governors. In 2010 and 2011, Jaime y los Chamacos won the Premios a la Musica Latina award for the albums Mejor Conjunto Tradicional and Conjunto Progressive Jaime y los Chamacos, respectively, and were inducted in the Tejano Hall of Fame. In 2013, the band won Conjunto of the Year and Di Anda won Male Performer of the Year. The awards only served to make the band hungrier; their live sets have become incendiary events where it is not unusual for the entire crowd to be on its feet and dancing. They remain so popular that 2016's Born to Be Bad won Tejano Album of the Year and virtually every show on their tour sold out. A year later, the group issued Este Momento, its South Central Music label debut. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi