Manu Chao (born José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao on June 21, 1961) in Paris, France, is a singer of French and Spanish (Basque, Galician) origin.
Manu Chao had been a well-known member of the Parisian alternative music scene, in bands such as Hot Pants and Los Carayos . In 1987, Chao, his brother Antoine Chao and their cousin Santiago Casariego founded the band
Mano Negra , which met with success in France first with the hit single
and then South America, where the band toured. The band split in 1995.
Chao sings in French, Spanish, Arabic, Galician, Portuguese, English, Italian, and Wolof, sometimes mixing them in the same song.
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He is one of the world's largest selling artists, but is less known in the English-speaking world.
Chao's music has many influences: rock, French chanson, Spanish-American salsa, reggae, ska and Algerian rai. These influences were obtained from immigrants in France, his Iberian roots and his travels in Latin America following the disbanding of Mano Negra . Many of Chao's lyrics are about political issues (e.g., immigration, global social justice, conflict, and a strongly leftist critique of exploitative economic globalization) but they are also about love, lifestyles in different parts of the world, and music itself, which is hopeful for the future and at the same time dramatic. Chao is openly critical of the Bush administration in the US. He has many followers among the European left and the anti-globalization movement.
The influence of Manu Chao in Latin Rock or "Rock en Español" was crucial not only for the development and rise of new Latin bands that tried to emulate his eclectic style, but also for the self-knowledge of Latin America as a united culture.
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