Joan Manuel Serrat i Teresa (27 December 1943) is a Spanish singer-songwriter.
Serrat is considered one of the most important figures of modern, popular music in both the Spanish and Catalan languages. He became involved with music at the age of 17, when he got his first guitar, to which he dedicates one of his earliest songs, "Una guitarra."
In the early 60's, the young artist participated in a pop band, playing along with classmates at Barcelona's Agronomy School and performing mainly Beatles songs and Italian 'pop-of-the-era' songs translated to Spanish.
In 1965, while singing in a radio show called Radioscope, host Salvador Escamilla helped him secure a record deal with local label Edigsa, where he recorded his first LP, as well as joining the group Els Setze Jutges.
Joan Manuel Serrat's first live stage performance in 1967 at the Palau de la Música Catalana, served to establish him as one of the most important artists inside the Nova cançó movement in Catalonia.
The following year, Spain entered Serrat in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 to sing "La, la, la", but he asked to sing it in Catalan, to which the Spanish authorities would not agree. This would be the first time he would come into conflict with the language politics of Francoist Spain, because of his decision to sing in his native Catalan language, repressed by dictator Francisco Franco. Defiantly, Serrat refused to sing the Spanish-language version, and was hurriedly replaced by Massiel, who went on to win the contest with her Spanish-language interpretation.
As a result, Serrat's songs were banned and his records burned in the streets. He then traveled to South America and participated in the Rio de Janeiro's World Music Festival, where he took first place with the song "Penélope."
In 1969, Serrat released an album containing songs with texts of Antonio Machado, a well known Spanish poet of late 19th-early 20th century. This album brought him immediate fame in all Spain and Latin America though, in spite of this, his decision to sing in Spanish was criticized in some Catalan nationalist circles. Regarding this and other times when his choice of language (sometimes Spanish, sometimes Catalan) raised controversy on either side of the political sphere, he once explained: "I sing better in the language they forbid me."
The release of the Mediterráneo LP in 1971 consolidated the artist's reputation worldwide. During that year, Serrat sang a seminal concert at the theater of the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, which was highly influential in the Puerto Rican music community of the time, and which had repercussions as late as 2006.
In late 1974, Serrat was exiled in Mexico due to his condemnation of arbitrary executions under Franco's regime. It wasn't until Franco's death November 20, 1975 that Serrat was able to return to his homeland. In 1976, Joan Manuel Serrat was acclaimed for the first time in the U.S.A., while performing in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York.
In January 1995, the Spanish government awarded him a medal for his contribution to Hispanic culture. That same year, a tribute album called Serrat, eres único was made to honor his career, featuring artists such as Diego Torres, Ketama, Rosario Flores, Joaquín Sabina, and Antonio Flores. On November 28, 1998, Serrat performed the Cant del Barça during the FC Barcelona Centenary festival at the Camp Nou.
In 2000, the Spanish Association of Authors and Editors (SGAE) awarded him with one of ten Medals of the Century.
Serrat revealed in October 2004 that he had been undergoing treatment for cancer of the urinary bladder and in November that year he had to cancel a tour of Latin America and the U.S. in order to undergo surgery in Barcelona, where he still lives. His signature song "Mediterráneo" was selected as the most important song of the 20th century in Spain.
His recovery was satisfactory, and in 2005 he went on tour again ("Serrat 100×100") around Spain and Latin America with his lifelong producer and arranger, Ricard Miralles. During the tour Serrat played symphonic versions of his songs with local symphony orchestras.
A second volume of Serrat, eres único was also released this year, featuring Alejandro Sanz, Estopa, and Pasión Vega. Around the same time, Cuban artists such as Silvio Rodríguez, Pablo Milanés, Chucho Valdez, and Ibrahim Ferrer came together to make another tribute CD, Cuba le canta a Serrat.
By 2006, the theater of the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras where Serrat sang in 1970 had undergone a multi-million dollar renovation, after being closed for ten years. The university planned to reopen the theater with Serrat as its first popular culture act, thus recalling his first performance there. However, student protests over the university conceding private entities control over some theater administration functions ended up in a physical confrontation between some student leaders and patrons attending the theater's inaugural gala, the day before Serrat's first scheduled performance. As a result, the concerts had to be postponed and changed to another venue. Serrat felt particularly uneasy about the whole situation; when he was pressed to take sides in the controversy he opted to remain neutral.
In 2006 Serrat also released Mô, his first album completely in Catalan in 17 years. The album title refers to the city of Mahón, capital of the Spanish island of Menorca, where he likes to get away from it all during long touring seasons. [edit] Discography (LPs)
1967 - Ara que tinc vint anys
1968 - Cançons tradicionals
1969 - Com ho fa el vent
1969 - La paloma
1969 - Dedicado a Antonio Machado, poeta
1970 - Serrat IV
1970 - Mi niñez
1971 - Mediterráneo
1972 - Miguel Hernández
1973 - Per al meu amic
1974 - Canción infantil
1975 - ...Para piel de manzana
1977 - Res no és mesquí
1978 - 1978
1980 - Tal com raja
1981 - En tránsito
1983 - Cada loco con su tema
1984 - Fa vint anys que tinc vint anys
1984 - En directo
1985 - El sur también existe
1986 - Sinceramente teu
1987 - Bienaventurados
1989 - Material sensible
1992 - Utopía
1994 - Nadie es perfecto
1996 - Banda sonora d'un temps d'un país
1996 - El gusto es nuestro (live with Ana Belén, Víctor Manuel, and Miguel Ríos)
1998 - Sombras de la China
2000 - Cansiones (Tarrés)
2002 - Versos en la boca
2003 - Serrat Sinfónico
2006 - Mô
2007 - Dos pájaros de un tiro (live with Joaquín Sabina)
2010 - Hijo de la luz y de la sombra [edit] Tributes (LPs) Varios: Serrat, eres único (BMG Ariola, 1995) Ricardo León: 'Antes que lleguen los perros' (Whitehill Records, 2002) Ricardo León: 'Levementeodioso' (Whitehill Records, 2004). Varios: Serrat, eres único (volumen 2) (BMG Ariola, 2005) Varios: Cuba le canta a Serrat (Discmedi, 2005) Varios: Per al meu amic Serrat (Discmedi, 2006) Varios: Cuba le canta a Serrat (volumen 2) (Discmedi, 2007)
