Amaia Montero
| Amaia Montero | |
|---|---|
Amaia Montero during Rock in Rio Madrid 2012
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Amaia Montero Saldías |
| Born |
August 26, 1976 Irun, Gipuzkoa, Spain |
| Origin | Basque Country, Spain |
| Genres | Pop/Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Songwriter |
| Instruments | Voice, Guitar, Keyboard |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Sony BMG |
| Associated acts | La Oreja de Van Gogh |
| Website | Amaia Montero |
Amaia Montero Saldías (born August 26, 1976), also known as the former vocalist of the Spanish pop-band La Oreja de Van Gogh between 1996 and 2007, is a singer/songwriter from Basque Country, Spain.
Amaia has sung in a variety of languages, including Basque, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, French and English. She also wrote some of the most successful singles of the band on their original versions, including "La Playa" (2000), "Mariposa" (2000) and "Puedes Contar Conmigo" (2003) among many others. Including her work with the band, Montero has sold over 7 million albums worldwide.
Amaia Montero is the daughter of José Montero and Pilar Saldías, and has an older sister, named Idoia. She attended UPV/EHU studying Chemistry, where she met the rest of the members of La Oreja de Van Gogh. When the band became famous, she switched studies to Psychology at the UNED. She later stopped studying.
She has a vocal instructor, and even though she cannot attend classes regularly due to lack of time, the benefit to her voice is evident. Montero had nodules in her throat in 1998 when the album Dile al sol was recorded but the nodules were removed after the first tour. Her personality has been described as sociable, fun, and very accessible; and although Montero has played for crowds of over 120,000 she claims to be very shy.
"La Oreja de Van Gogh" was formed in 1996, after guitarist Pablo Benegas, bassist Álvaro Fuentes, keyboardist Xabi San Martín, and drummer Haritz Garde met at a local university. They used to record covers of songs from local bands, like Soziedad Alkoholika and international rock bands, such as U2, Janis Joplin, Tool, Pearl Jam and Nirvana, usually with San Martín providing lead vocals. Amaia Montero joined the band subsequently, following an invitation by Benegas. The two met at a dinner party after he heard Montero singing Sinéad O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U".
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Wikipedia