b. José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao, 26 June 1961, Paris, France. A leading figure in the rise of the Latin Alternative movement, Manu Chao was born to Spanish parents (his father Ramón is a noted writer). Bilingual from an early age, he fell in love with the UK punk scene while in his teens and joined local rockabilly outfit, Les Hot Pants. After the demise of this band in the mid-80s, he formed the Clash-inspired Mano Negra with his brother and his cousin. The band's multi-cultural eclecticism embraced punk, ska, reggae and hip-hop, and they built a strong following in Latin America, although their anarchist principles often led to clashes with the authorities.
In 1995 Manu Chao relocated the band to Spain and created the concurrent Radio Bemba Sound System, a move which hastened the demise of Mano Negra. Manu Chao responded to this setback by embarking on an extended trip around South and Central America, accompanied by his guitar and a four-track. The results of his impromptu recording sessions saw the light of day on 1998's Clandestino. This superb multi-lingual album became a sleeper hit on the Latin Alternative charts, helping break Manu Chao into the North American market. The 2001 follow-up Próxima Estación: Esperanza (Next Stop: Hope) developed his cultural kaleidoscope approach to songwriting, and included the hypnotic European hit "Me Gustas Tú".
A live CD and accompanying DVD drawn from the tour to promote the album were released the following year, with many old Mano Negra tracks given a new lease of life. The studio follow-up, 2004's Sibérie M'Était Contéee, was a French-language album, which included an accompanying lyric book complete with illustrations by Jacek Wozniak. During the same period Chao produced the acclaimed Dimanche À Bamako by blind Malian duo Amadou And Mariam.
