Gipsy Kings history: from Arles to Bamboléo, before André Reyes plays Dubai Opera
How a Romani family band from the south of France sold 25 million albums, ahead of the symphonic show on 22 October.
André Reyes brings Gipsy Kings Symphonic to Dubai Opera on Thursday 22 October. He is one of the sons of José Reyes, the singer whose family built one of the best-selling acts in world music.
The roots of the band go back to the south of France. AOL's history of the group traces it to the cousins José Reyes and Ricardo Baliardo, better known as the guitarist Manitas de Plata, whose parents had left Spain in the 1930s. The band itself formed in Arles in 1979, first under the name Los Reyes, uniting the Reyes and Baliardo families.
After José Reyes died in 1979, his sons Nicolas, François, André, Patchaï and Pablo carried on and brought in their cousins Diego, Paco and Tonino Baliardo. Their sound mixed flamenco, rumba, pop and salsa, sung in Spanish, Catalan and French.
The breakthrough was the self-titled 1987 album, with Djobi Djoba, Bamboléo and the ballad Un Amor. It spent 40 weeks on the US charts, rare for a Spanish-language record, and the band has since sold 25 million albums and won a Grammy in 2014 for Savor Flamenco.
Their version of Volare appeared on the 1989 album Mosaïque, and their flamenco take on the Eagles' Hotel California was used in the Coen brothers' film The Big Lebowski. Today André Reyes leads his own spinoff, Gipsy Kings by André Reyes, with relatives and backing musicians, and it released the album Nací Gitano in 2022.
Gipsy Kings by Andre ReyesThu 22 Oct · Dubai Opera See ticketsSource: Wikipedia: Gipsy Kings, AOL, Khaleej Times
