Barón Rojo

Barón Rojo
Original line-up of Barón Rojo reunited in 2010.
Background information
Origin	Madrid, Spain
Genres	Heavy metal, hard rock
Years active	1980-present
Website	www.baronrojo.net
Members	Armando de Castro Carlos de Castro Rafa Díaz
Past members	José Luis Campuzano "Sherpa" Hermes Calabria Máximo González Pepe Bao José Antonio del Nogal Niko del Hierro José Luis Aragón Valeriano Rodríguez Ángel Arias José Martos Tony Ferrer Gorka Alegre

Barón Rojo (Spanish pronunciation: [baˈɾon ˈroxo]) are a Spanish heavy metal band, who reached some international success in the 1980s. The band is led by siblings Carlos and Armando de Castro, previously from the band Coz, and it is considered one of the most important representatives of Spanish hard rock bands. "Barón Rojo" in Spanish is "Red Baron", the name of the band is an homage to Manfred von Richthofen, and the eponymous song "Barón Rojo" is about him.

They were ranked number 18 on Rolling Stone's "50 Greatest Spanish rock bands".

The band released their debut album Larga Vida al Rock and Roll in 1981, and the first single taken from the LP was Con Botas Sucias. It achieved moderate success, earning them several coverage from the media after winning a gold record selling certification. To promote the album, Barón Rojo made a tour around Spain.

They moved to London for the recording of their second album Volumen Brutal (1982) on the Kingsway studios, owned by Deep Purple's frontman Ian Gillan. This album was released in two versions: One with the lyrics in Spanish and another sung in English. Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden is credited for helping them with the translation. This led the band to international success specially in England, where they graced the cover of music magazine Kerrang!. The album, which included tracks like "Los rockeros van al infierno", "Incomunicación" and "Resistiré" (Stand Up in English) sold two million copies worldwide.

On 27 August 1982 Barón Rojo played at Reading music festival, along with renowned bands as Iron Maiden, Twisted Sister and Marillion.