Miguel Rios
| Miguel Ríos | |
|---|---|
Miguel Ríos, 2014
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Miguel Ríos |
| Also known as | Mike Ríos |
| Born |
7 June 1944 Granada, Spain |
| Genres | Rock and roll, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, composer, actor |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1961–2011 |
| Labels | A&M Records |
Miguel Ríos (born 7 June 1944, Granada, Spain) is a Spanish singer, composer, actor. He is one of the pioneers of rock and roll in Spain.
Ríos was born in La Cartuja, a neighborhood of Granada. The youngest of seven children, he went to work in a local bar at the age of fifteen after little formal education. His interest in rock and roll led him to participate in a song contest at Cenicienta 60 radio station, in which he and his friends won a prize for singing the Paul Anka song "You Are My Destiny".
With his mother's permission (his father had died a few months earlier), he moved to Madrid in 1961 at the age of sixteen, where he recorded his first four songs. In popular circles he became known as Mike Ríos, the King of Twist.
As Mike Ríos he obtained some television popularity during the first half of the 1960s. In 1964 he resumed using his real name which cost him the support of his group, Los Relámpagos (the Lightning). He made his first incursion into cinema with a movie titled Dos chicas locas, locas (Two Crazy Girls).
An introspective search for his true identity resulted in some rocky times. In 1967 he recorded "Vuelvo a Granada", "El río", "Contra el cristal", "El cartel", and "Mira hacia ti". It was in 1970 that he came to be known as a superstar in Spain. His song "Himno de la alegría" (Hymn of Joy) was an extract of the last movement of the ninth symphony of Beethoven and appeared at the height of what was known as symphonic rock. It was released in both the United States and the United Kingdom as "A Song of Joy" in May 1970 on the A&M Records label, where combined sales in the U.S. and Canada reached the one million mark in July. It reached No. 16 in the UK singles charts in August 1970. It was awarded a gold record by the Recording Industry Association of America.
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