Biography

Gonzalo Yañez is a Latin pop singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Chile who experienced international success as a solo artist and also in collaboration with others. Born on May 8, 1983, in Montevideo, Uruguay, he moved to Chile in 1995 and settled in the capital city of Santiago. Around the turn of the century he formed the band No Me Acuerdo with some college friends. Comprised of Yañez (vocals, guitar), Rodrigo Jeldres (guitar), Lucas Márquez (guitar, keyboard), Francisco Díaz (bass), and Rodrigo Bob Letelier (drums), the band made its full-length album debut in 2001 with Nada Que Perder on Warner Music. No Me Acuerdo subsequently collaborated with Los Prisioneros frontman Jorge González, who produced the single "Cada Día Más" and an accompanying EP of the same name released in 2003 by Warner Music. The band broke up before the completion of its second full-length album, however, and so Yañez ended up finishing the album alone and releasing it on Warner Music as his full-length solo debut, Gonzalo Yañez (2004). Meanwhile, he was invited by González to join Los Prisioneros for the recording of the legendary Chilean rock band's latter-day comeback album, Manzana (2004), and its accompanying tour of the Americas. Moreover, Yañez began outsourcing his talents as a producer/songwriter, working first with Argentine pop singer María Jimena Pereyra on her album Esa Luz (2004); subsequently, he worked with Ximena Abarca (Provocación, 2006), Kel (No Molestar!, 2008), Denise Rosenthal (El Blog de la Feña, 2008), Uruz (Uruz, 2008), and others. In 2005 Yañez resumed his solo career with Me Hiciste Pagar, a four-track EP on the label La Oreja. The following year he released his second solo album, De Ida y Vuelta, on the label. His third album, Dispara, was released in 2008 on the Chilean label Feria Music and repackaged that same year as Gonzalo Yañez for international release by the American label Nacional Records. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi