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Jorge Drexler

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Jorge Drexler is a Uruguayan musician, actor and doctor, born in 1964 in Montevideo. His father was a German Jew from Berlin who fled the Nazis at the age of four with his parents, via Bolivia to Uruguay. His mother was Catholic, of mixed Spanish, French and Portuguese descent. Drexler played piano from the age of five, later had guitar and composition lessons, and, like his parents, studied medicine, specialising in ear, nose and throat. During his studies he hitchhiked through Brazil.

Music and breakthrough

In 1995 he performed in Montevideo as the support act for the Spanish singer Joaquín Sabina, who invited him to Madrid and introduced him to other Spanish musicians. In 1996 he recorded the album Vaivén in Spain. He then moved to Spain and made four more albums: Llueve, Frontera, Sea and Eco. His first album La luz que sabe robar was released in 1992 and Radar in 1994. In 2001 he wrote two songs with Rosario Flores for her album Muchas Flores.

Influence

His song Al otro lado del río was heard in the film The Motorcycle Diaries. In 2005 it won the Oscar for Best Song, making Drexler the first Uruguayan with an Oscar and the song the first Spanish-language song to receive the prize. On stage he was not allowed to sing it: Antonio Banderas and Carlos Santana did. In accepting the prize he recited two verses. After that came 12 segundos de oscuridad in 2006, including a cover of High and Dry by Radiohead. He lives in Spain for most of the year, but records his albums partly in Uruguay, with Uruguayan musicians.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Al otro lado del río and notice the quiet guitar and the soft voice, and how the lyric describes a journey to the other side of a river.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

See also

Categories: Artists