Armando Manzanero

Armando Manzanero Canché (born in Mérida, Yucatán on 7 December 1935) is a Mexican musician, singer, and composer of Maya descent, widely considered the premier Mexican romantic composer of the postwar era and one of the most successful composers of Latin America. He received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in United States in 2014. He is the current president of the Mexican Society of Authors and Composers (Sociedad de Autores y Compositores de México).

Biography
At the age of eight he was introduced into the world of music in the Escuela de Bellas Artes (School of Fine Arts) of his native city, later furthering his musical studies in Mexico City. In 1950, at the age of fifteen, he composed his first melody titled Nunca en el Mundo (Never in the World), of which twenty-one versions in different languages have been recorded to date. The following year he began his professional career as a pianist.

In 1957 he was signed as musical director by the Mexican branch of CBS International and as Musical Promoter for EMI, becoming the next year the pianist of Latin American artists such as Pedro Vargas, Lucho Gatica and Raphael.

In 1959, an executive of RCA Victor urged him to record his first album of love songs, which he named Mi Primera Grabación (My First Record).

In 1965 he won the first place of the Festival de la Canción (Song Festival) in Miami with the song Cuando Estoy Contigo (When I'm With You).

In 1970, his song "Somos Novios" was translated into English by Sid Wayne, composer for Elvis Presley. The English version, "It's Impossible", was performed by Perry Como and was nominated for a Grammy.

In 1978 he won the first place of the Mallorca Festival in Spain, with the song Señor Amor (Mister Love). In 1982, the song Corazón Amigo (Heart Friend), was honored in the Yamaha Festival. In 1993 Billboard magazine gave him an award for his excellent musical career.

In 2011, Manzanero became President of and one of the main directors of the Asociación Nacional de Autores y Compositores (Mexican National Association of Authors and Composers). He also served as Vice President of the association From 1982 through 2011. His work in defense of copyright laws has strengthened this organization and has given it international acclaim.

His work has been performed by singers such as Tito Rodriguez, Frank Sinatra, Andrea Bocelli, Raquel Bitton Tony Bennett, Elvis Presley, Alejandro Fernández, Perry Como, Luis Miguel, Franck Pourcel, Paul Mauriat, Ray Conniff, María Martha Serra Lima, Mina, Claudio Nicoletti, Raphael, Roberto Carlos, Christina Aguilera, Manoella Torres, Marco Antonio Muñiz, Angelica Maria, José José, Tania Libertad, Lucero, Cristian Castro, and Il Divo, Carmen París, as well as with pianist Raúl di Blasio and others.

Manzanero has composed more than four hundred songs, fifty of which have given him international fame. He has participated in numerous radio and television shows, recorded more than thirty albums, and composed the musical scores of several movies. During the fifty years of his musical career, Manzanero has given performances all over Latin America, particularly in São Paulo (Brazil), Buenos Aires (Argentina), El Metropolitan (Mexico), the Teresa Carreño Theater of Caracas (Venezuela), Madison Square Garden (New York), and many other prestigious cities of Europe and Asia.

His most famous songs include Voy a apagar la luz (I'm Going to Turn Off the Lights), Contigo Aprendí ( With you I Learnt... ), Adoro (I Adore), No sé tú (I don't know if you...), Por Debajo de la Mesa (Underneath the Table) Esta Tarde Vi Llover (English version "Yesterday I Heard the Rain"), Somos Novios (English version "It's Impossible"), Felicidad (Happiness) and Nada Personal (Nothing Personal).

Recognition
Manzanero was presented with the Excellence Award at the 1993 Lo Nuestro Awards. He received the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. Manzanero was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2000, the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2003, and the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013.

Selected discography

 1959: Mi Primera Grabación
 1967: A mi amor... Con mi amor
 1967: Manzanero el Grande
 1968: Somos Novios
 1968: Armando Manzanero, su piano y su música
 1969: Para mi siempre amor
 N/A: Que bonito viven los enamorados
 1976: Lo mejor de Armando Manzanero
 1977: Fanático de ti
 1977: Corazón Salvaje
 1979: Ternura y Romance
 1981: Mi trato contigo
 1982: Otra vez romántico
 1985: Armando Manzanero
 1987: Cariñosamente, Manzanero
 1988: Mientras existas tú
 1992: Las canciones que quise escribir
 1993: Entre amigos
 1995: El piano... Manzanero y sus amigos
 1996: Nada Personal
 1997: Intimos (Ft. Bebu Silvetti)
 1998: Manzanero y La Libertad (Ft. Tania Libertad)
 2001: Duetos
 2002: Duetos 2
 2002: Lo Mejor de lo Mejor
 2005: Lo Esencial
 2006: De la A a la Z (Ft. Susana Zabaleta)-DVD
 2008: Las mujeres de Manzanero
 2009: Amarrados (Ft. Susana Zabaleta)
 2012: "Armando un Pancho" (Dueto – Francisco Cespedes)
 2014: "Des Armando a Tania" (Dueto – Tania Libertad)

See also

International Jose Guillermo Carrillo Foundation
List of singer-songwriters/Mexico
List of people from Morelos, Mexico

Notes

Category:1935 births
Category:Living people
Category:Singers from Yucatán (state)
Category:Musicians from Yucatán (state)
Category:Writers from Yucatán (state)
Category:People from Mérida, Yucatán
Category:Mexican people of Maya descent
Category:Mexican composers
Category:Mexican composers of popular or traditional folk music
Category:Mexican male singer-songwriters
Category:Mexican pianists
Category:Latin Grammy Award winners
Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Category:Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners
Category:Latin music songwriters
Category:Latin music composers
Category:Male pianists
Category:21st-century pianists
Category:21st-century male musicians