Colombia tierra querida carlos vives biography

Born Carlos Alberto Vives Restrepo on August 7, 1961, in Santa Marta, Colombia; son of Luis Aurelio (a doctor) and Araceli (a homemaker); married Margarita Rosa de Francisco, 1988; divorced, 1990; married Herlinda Gomez, 1993; children: (with Gomez) Carlos Enrique, Lucia.

Education: Graduated from Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, Bogota, Colombia. Addresses: Record company--EMI Latin America, 1688 Meridian Ave., Miami Beach, FL 33139, (305) 672-5252.

Carlos Vives, known for his fusion of pop vocals and traditional Colombian vallenato music, earned a Grammy Award in 2002, received numerous Latin Grammy nominations, and is considered "one of Latin America's most acclaimed [musical] artists," according to Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez in the Los Angeles Times. Valdes-Rodriguez also noted, "Vives embodies the very soul of Latin America."

Vives's songs celebrate vallenato, the traditional music of the Colombian rural people.

Vallenato, which originated in the Valle de Upar i