La Oreja de Van Gogh

La Oreja de Van Gogh
From left to right: Xabi San Martín, Pablo Benegas, Leire Martínez, Álvaro Fuentes and Harítz Garde.
Background information
Also known as	LOVG
Origin	San Sebastián, Guipuzcoa, Basque Country, Spain
Genres	Pop rock Power pop Synthpop Folk rock
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Music
Website	La Oreja de Van Gogh
Members	Pablo Benegas (guitar) Álvaro Fuentes (bass) Xabi San Martín (keyboards) Haritz Garde (drums) Leire Martínez (vocals)
Past members	Amaia Montero (vocals) (1996-2007)

La Oreja de Van Gogh (English: Van Gogh's Ear, literally The Ear of Van Gogh) is Spanish pop band from Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain. The name of the band refers to the famous post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh who cut off the lobe of his own ear. Their characteristically poetic songs (both lyrics and music) are written mainly by band members Pablo Benegas, Xabi San Martín and (until she left) Amaia Montero. The themes of their songs typically include love, friendship and relationships. Since their debut, they have sold more than 8 million albums worldwide.

In November 2007, lead singer Amaia Montero announced that she would be leaving the group to begin a solo career. Her replacement, Leire Martínez, was announced in July 2008; the first single featuring the new singer, "El Último Vals" (The Last Waltz), was released at the same time. The album from which the single was taken, A las cinco en el Astoria, followed in September 2008. Leire was discovered on the Spanish reality show Factor X.

The band was formed under the provisional name Los Sin Nombre (The Nameless) in 1996 by four college students from San Sebastián: Xabi San Martín (keyboard), Pablo Benegas (guitar), Álvaro Fuentes (bass guitar) and Haritz Garde (drums). They recorded covers of songs from international rock bands, such as U2, Pearl Jam and Nirvana, usually with San Martín providing lead vocals.

When they switched to composing their own songs, they decided that a female singer would fit better, and so started to look for an appropriate vocalist. They met Amaia Montero at a friend's party, and after listening to her sing "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'Connor, Benegas convinced her to join the group. She subsequently became the lead singer and frontperson of the band until her departure in 2007. After several meetings in local cafés, Montero suggested La Oreja de Van Gogh (Van Gogh's Ear) as the definitive name of the band, inspired by the story of Vincent Van Gogh severing one of his ears.