Joaquín Sabina

Biography of Joaquín Sabina

Joaquín Ramón Martínez Sabina (February 12, 1949) is a composer and singer of urban folk-rock, poet, and painter, widely known as Joaquín Sabina. He was born in Úbeda, Jaén, Spain. His mother, Adela Sabina del Campo, was a housewife, and his father, Jerónimo Martínez Gallego, worked as a police inspector. His family, being very Catholic, enrolled him in a school run by the Carmelite nuns. From an early age, the young Sabina demonstrated his ability in writing poetry and composing music. He formed a band with his friends called Merry Youngs, which mainly covered rock singers such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard.

At that time, he had his first girlfriend, known as Chispa, who was the muse of many of his compositions and some love poems. From the beginning, the father, a notary from Úbeda, of the young woman was against this relationship. So, a few months later, they went on a series of adventures to be together. Joaquín and Chispa went to Granollers and then reunited to escape to the Aran Valley located in Lérida, where they lived together for a time. Sabina returned to resume his studies in a school run by the Salesian Order. He continued writing and learned about Fray Luis de León, Jorge Manrique, and José Hierro. He also read Marcel Proust, James Joyce, and Herbert Marcuse.

He received his first guitar from his father. After finishing high school, he obtained a job as a composer and director of a theater group in Granada. In 1976, he decided to temporarily reside in England, but later returned to Spain and settled in Madrid. During this period, he was closely associated with La Mandrágora, a bohemian art venue where he met Javier Krahe and Alberto Pérez, musicians. Sabina secured a contract with the record label Movieplay and in 1978 released his first album: “Inventario”. Then came “Malas Compañías” with the Epic label.

The previous album, which was a hit in 1980, achieved several successes thanks to the songs: “Pongamos que hablo de Madrid”, “Calle Melancolía” or “Círculos viciosos”. A year later, “La Mandrágora” was released, an album that was well received. His figure began to be compared and placed on the level of great established figures such as Ana Belén, Miguel Ríos, Javier Gurruchaga, Hilario Camacho, Juan Antonio Muriel and Los Secretos. He was invited to participate in the television program “Si yo fuera presidente” by Fernando García Tola and compose television theme songs for programs such as “Con las manos en la masa” and “Esto es lo que hay”. In 1985, he established his own label BMG-Ariola.

From his label came the album “Joaquín Sabina y Viceversa,” its release was promoted on television, but a controversy arose and the song “Cuervo Ingenuo,” performed by Javier Krahe, had to be censored for its reference to President Felipe González. From then on, several important productions were released that were well received among the Spanish audience, and even internationally, these were: “Hotel, dulce hotel” (1987), “El hombre del traje gris” (1988); with songs like “Con un par” from the album “Mentiras piadosas” (1990), and “Nos dieron las diez” from his next work “Física y Química” (1992).

Definitely, since Joaquín Sabina began his music career, he managed to attract the attention of a younger audience than his own generation and was established as a worthy heir to a throne occupied for a long time by the singer Joan Manuel Serrat. This was reaffirmed by the success of his following works: “Esta boca es mía” (1994), his famous song “Ruido,” composed by him and Pedro Guerra; “Yo, mi, me, contigo” (1996) was number one in sales, selling 80,000 copies in just one week. He then continued with “Enemigos íntimos” (1998), an album made with Fito Paez, which contains “Llueve sobre mojado,” composed and performed by both, and the memorable “19 días y 500 noches”.

He has been deserving of several awards for his musical career, receiving the Ondas award for best Spanish artist at the end of the 90s. He was also the winner of the Spanish Music Awards for best pop rock author, created by the Spanish Society of Authors (SGAE) and the Association of Performers or Performers (AIE). He also had a productive and successful tour throughout Spain and Latin America where he shared the theme “19 días y 500 noches”, presented “Nos sobran los motivos” (2000).

Upon his return, he worked on “Ciento volando,” a book of sonnets inspired and dedicated to filmmakers, actors, writers, bullfighters and singers. Unfortunately, Sabina suffered a cerebral ischemia that prevented him from being on stage for several months. After his recovery, he released “Dímelo en la calle” (2002) and published a book with his entire songbook, “Con buena letra” (2002). At that time, he devoted time to writing and published “Ciento volando de catorce,” selling 150,000 copies. Between 2005 and 2006, he released the album “Alivio de luto.” Shortly thereafter, he gave a recital at the Madrid Conference Center. In the summer of 2006, he embarked on a tour called “Carretera y top manta.”

After several years away from the music scene, in 2011, the singer began the tour “El penúltimo tren” in various countries of Latin America, this would also be held for the first time in the United States. But due to acute diverticulitis, it had to be suspended until October at the Manhattan Center in New York. He was also at the “Músicos en la naturaleza” festival, held in Hoyos del Espino. He embarked on a tour where he presented his musical work with Joan Manuel Serrat: “La orquesta del Titanic.” In 2013, he published the book “Muy personal,” which included drawings, poems, and fragments of song lyrics. After several successful projects, such as “Garabatos,” he released his album “Lo niego todo” in 2017.