carlos vives
Carlos Vives now has his double at the Wax Museum of Mexico City. The Colombian star helped unveil his figure on Thursday night (Sep. 5) night at the institution, where it will share space with other iconic Mexican cultural figures, like painter Frida Kahlo and wrestler El Santo.
“I’m happy with this recognition that the Mexican people give me, that’s how I feel,” Vives said during the ceremony, evidently moved. “We have come to Mexico so much, our hearts have been touched by its music, by its art, by its cinema, its television.”
He added: “Being here in the museum, next to so many figures from the world, but above all next to the Mexican stars, who from my childhood and my youth had been a great example and inspiration — being here with them is the greatest honor I’ve received from the Mexican people.”
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The new wax figure shows Vives looking a bit younger and taller than the real artist. It carries a guitar and wears fitted leather pants and a black t-shirt emblazoned with his name and the title of his sixteenth album, Cumbiana (2020). It’s located in the main hall of the museum, close to those of Vicente Fernández and Marco Antonio Solís.
Vives — who is performing this Saturday, Sept. 7 before 10,000 people for a sold-out show at the National Auditorium in Mexico City — shared the honor with the Colombian musicians who inspired him in his youth and who are part of his history. “They are here with me and represent what I wanted to show the world: a beautiful and diverse oral tradition like our country,” he said.
His addition to the museum comes two months ahead of his honoring as the Latin Recording Academy 2024 Person of the Year in November, during the 25th anniversary of the Latin Grammys in Miami.
Born in Santa Marta, Colombia, Vives is one of the most respected artists in Spanish-language music and a pioneer of a new Latin American sound, redefining traditional Colombian vallenato by incorporating to it pop and rock sounds. With No. 1 hits on the Billboard charts such as “Volví a Nacer,” “Fruta Fresca” and “La Bicicleta” with Shakira, among others, he has become an ambassador of Colombian and Latin American culture around the world.
“He has undoubtedly left an indelible mark on the hearts of millions of people and today he will be immortalized at the Wax Museum of Mexico City,” said the museum in a press release prior to Thursday’s ceremony.
Located in the central neighborhood of Colonia Juárez, in an old Art Nouveau style mansion, the Wax Museum of Mexico City celebrates this year its 45th anniversary. In its 14 thematic rooms, visitors can appreciate some 260 wax figures of characters from history, art, politics, and sports, from Diego Rivera and Salvador Dalí, to Bill Gates, Ronaldinho, Hugo Sánchez, ‘Canelo’ Álvarez; Gene Simmons, Michael Jackson, Chaplin, Alex Lora, Chabelo, and more.
According to the museum, the wax figures are made by its team of sculptors and many wear clothes that belonged to the real character. The creation of each figure takes approximately four to eight months.
Watch Carlos Vives unveil his wax figure below:
Acclaimed Colombian singer-songwriter Carlos Vives will be honored with this year’s ASCAP Founders Award, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) announced Monday (March 4). The presentation of the award will take place April 3 at the 2024 El Premio ASCAP in Miami, an invitation-only event that celebrates this year’s ASCAP Latin Music Award winners.
“Carlos has led a new generation of Latin artists bringing Colombian music sounds to music fans around the world,” said Paul Williams, ASCAP chairman of the board and president, in a press release. “His talent and passion for Latin music and culture are unmatched. His accomplishments have paved the way for so many others and we are thrilled to present him with our highest honor, the ASCAP Founders Award.”
The ASCAP Founders Award recognizes songwriters and composers who have made “pioneering contributions to music by inspiring and influencing their fellow music creators,” according to the organization. “Each recipient is a musical innovator who possesses a unique style of creative genius that will enrich generations to come.”
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Vives — winner of 18 Latin Grammy Awards, two Grammy Awards and a Billboard Latin Music Awards Hall of Fame inductee — has left a profound mark in Latin music. In 2023, he released Escalona: Nunca Se Había Grabado Así, earning his 18th Latin Grammy, for best cumbia/vallenato album, and a 2024 Grammy nomination for best Latin tropical album.
“I want to thank ASCAP for this prestigious recognition,” Vives said in a press release. “It is an honor to receive an award that celebrates my career and contributions. I am looking forward to continuing to share the gift of music with new generations of songwriters and musicians.”
The Colombian powerhouse — whose No. 1 hits on the Billboard charts include “Volví a Nacer,” “Fruta Fresca,” “La Bicicleta” with Shakira, and “Robarte un Beso” with Sebastián Yatra, among others — joins past recipients of the ASCAP Founders Award such as Marc Anthony, Rubén Blades, Garth Brooks, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Carly Simon, Arturo Sandoval, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder and many more.
Choosing a “local path” made Carlos Vives “very international,” reflects the superstar via Zoom from his native Colombia as he prepares to release Escalona Nunca Se Había Grabado Así, a tribute album to the great Rafael Escalona.
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The 12-track set, released on Wednesday (April 19) under WK Records / Gaira Musica Local, includes versions of “La Historia,” “Mala Suerte” and “La Golondrina,” as well as “La Nostalgia de Poncho”, “El Destino de Simón” and “El Testamento,” among others.
The album arrives the same year that Vives celebrates three decades of his worldwide hit Clásicos de la Provincia, where he took the rural musical stylings from Colombia’s Caribbean coast known as vallenato, and injected a modern pop-rock sensibility. It is a revolutionary sound that immortalized the Colombian genre beyond its borders. His main inspiration? Rafael Escalona, a swaggering, prolific troubadour, romantic and a playboy, from the country’s Valledupar region.
Vives, who started off playing rock before dedicating the rest of his life to rescuing and revitalizing the sounds of his homeland, starred in a successful 1991 biographical telenovela called Escalona, in which he played none other than the Colombian composer himself. It became a transformative experience — in which the spirit of the legendary troubadour remained with him, in a way — but also one where Vives continued building off those musical teachings afterwards.
“After we did the series, the style that I discovered Colombian kind of pop [rooted in] traditional music from the different rural regions — a different way than how vallenato was recorded before,” says Vives. “The fact being proud of everything we had here, of everything we are as Colombians, I think really made us popular, and it led us to tour around the world. That was really the reason that motivated us to do what we do.”
To support the release of Escalona Nunca Se Había Grabado Así, he will premiere the documentary Regreso a Escalona on May 1 in Colombia on Canal Caracol and arrives four days later in the U.S. at The Colombian Film Festival NY. The musician, who this week will be honored with the Leyenda Award at the Latin American Music Awards, is also preparing for an upcoming international tour.
Below, Vives breaks down five essential songs from his new album that explore Escalona’s compositions as never before recorded, in his own words.
“La Historia”
The first single we released was ‘La Historia’, a very romantic song about a heartbreak by Rafael Escalona. But we recorded it in a pop style, without losing the feeling of traditional music. ‘La Historia’ is a very sad and simple song, but with an incredible strength and soulful intensity, and with a sound that you will enjoy very much.
“Mala Suerte”
This is a song that does not produce bad luck (or mala suerte). It is a song of joy and strength, like El Rock De Mi Pueblo. I wanted to record “Mala Suerte” also at that time [2004], with that instrumental strength, with those electric guitars and without losing the accordion of my compadre Egidio [Cuadrado].
[For this album] we did a new version, inspired fundamentally by a scene we did more than 30 years ago with my compadre Egidio. When we recorded the series and that song, I sang the song live, riding in a pickup truck, moving along a road in the province of Padilla. So, when I wanted to shoot the video 30 years later, I wanted to do it again in a van. The video is a reference of what we did 30 years ago for this celebration. The only thing it gives you is wonderful luck and happiness in the soul.
“El Carro Ford”
In the film we are releasing, Regreso a Escalona, Escalona’s son, Pachín Francisco Escalona, lent me a truck that belonged to his father. In that truck we traveled around the region again with my compadre Egidio, and it’s a Ford truck. The song goes (sings):Voy a comprar un carro Ford/ Voy a comprar un carro FordQue vuela en la carretera/ Y lo pongo en direcciónY lo pongo en dirección del valle pa’ Villanueva.Como yo no tomo ron, como yo no tomo ron/ Quiero mi trago en monedaPa’ comprarme un carro Ford, pa’ comprarme un carro Ford…
That van would possibly have inspired the composition of this song — in addition to Escalona’s numerous loves, of course. We shot the film riding in the van that my compadre Egidio knew because he had been Escalona’s accordionist, and [also] had been Escalona’s brother-in-law. Egidio’s sister Dina was one of the great muses that inspired Escalona for his songs. Dina appears in many of his songs — and, of course, I managed to have Dina as one of the protagonists of this TV special. Rafa [Escalona] was a lover man.
“Carmen Gómez”
In general, most songs talk about taking women out on a stroll — for the ladies. Escalona talks about proper names — such as ‘La mona del Cañaguate’ or ‘La Maye’ — and he made a song to Carmen Gómez. There is always a woman who inspires his songwriting and she has her own name, her own authentic place — where they were born, where the story happened, where he took her for a walk, what he bought her. “Carmen Gomez” is a song inspired by beauty pageants, and it goes (sings):
De un concurso que se forme buscando la mujer perfectaYo voy a que ganar Fonseca o representando a Carmen Gómez Y tiene porte de un gran dama y una elegancia muy distinguidaDe esa raza noble y grande, esa que ella representaSacó los ojos de España y la nobleza latina
In a time when music becomes uniform throughout the world, and everything seems to sound the same, we do not recognize places or people, rivers, mountains, or animals. [As a culture] we don’t dedicate time to preserve what is ours. Escalona’s music, the way we recorded it, I think is something very refreshing.
“Contestación a la Brasilera”
The bonus track on the album is a song that composer Armando Zabaleta, a friend of my father’s, did. When I told my dad, “I am going to record Clásicos de la Provincia. I want you to help me select the repertoire to show people that in addition to Escalona, there are a number of composers that people don’t really know about.” Because the Escalona series already famous, he told me, “Record ‘Contestación a la brasilera’.” Armando Zabaleta was a friend of Escalona. And Rafa had made a song for a Brazilian that goes like this (sings):
Yo la conocí una mañana/ Yo la conocí una mañana Que llegó en avión a mi tierra y cuando me la presentaron Me dijo que era brasilera
It’s Escalona’s love story with a Brazilian woman, and she ends up leaving, leaving him lovesick. It was one of Escalona’s most famous songs. I recorded it on my Clásicos de la Provincia album, [but] I recorded it incomplete. When I got to the mixing of the album [Clásicos…], the song was missing. The only thing I could think of so as not to lose face with my dad and Armando was to close the song with a little verse. But of course, when the record came out, my dad says, “You didn’t record the whole song. What happened?” In the end I told him, “Give me a chance, sooner or later I’m going to record it. I had promised my dad that I was going to complete it, but [time] passed and I forgot.”
Making this Escalona album, it occurred to me to pay tribute to my dad and the composer. Today they are no longer with us. I recorded the complete composition that speaks of Rafael Escalona, although it is not his song.
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