Biography and career
Sabina was born on February 12, 1949 in the city of Úbeda (Jaén Province, in Andalusia), Spain. His father was a policeman. By the age of 14, he began writing poems and composing music with friends. He enrolled in the University of Granada in 1968, but left the school, going into exile in London, using a fake passport, to avoid persecution from Francisco Franco's government. That same year, his father received an order to arrest Joaquín due to his anti-Franco ideals.
In 1975, Sabina started composing songs and singing at local bars. In a local bar called "Mexicano-Taverna" Sabina performed in the presence of George Harrison, who was celebrating his birthday. The ex-Beatle then gave Sabina a five-pound bill as tip, which Sabina still preserves to this day. When Franco's dictatorship ended in 1975, Sabina returned to Spain and enrolled in the military.
Sabina's first album, Inventario (Inventory) was released in 1978 by a small label Movieplay, but went unnoticed. Afterwards, he moved to the powerful CBS (today Sony) and released Malas compañías (Bad Companies). This album gave Joaquín his first number-one hit single Pongamos que hablo de Madrid' (Let's say I´m talking about Madrid) and wide recognition. He released a live album called La mandrágora (The Mandrake), sharing the spotlight with mates Javier Krahe and Alberto Pérez. The trio was currently enjoying much popularity thanks to their participation in a TV program. La Mandrágora created much controversy due to the racy content of the lyrics.
Sabina released his third album Ruleta Rusa (Russian Roulette) in 1983 and two years later, Juez y parte (Judge and Side). His political views led him to take part in the anti-NATO movement. He later published Joaquín Sabina y Viceversa.
In 1987 he released Hotel, dulce hotel (Hotel, Sweet Hotel), which sold a large number of records in Spain. That success followed with his next album El hombre del traje gris (The Man in The Gray Suit), and followed with a successful tour of South America. This was followed by the released Mentiras piadosas (White Lies) in 1990, and two years later Física y química (Chemistry and Physics), which led to another successful tour of the Americas.
His later albums Esta boca es mía (This Mouth is Mine), Yo, mi, me contigo (I, my, myself... with you) and 19 días y 500 noches (19 Days and 500 Nights), won him more recognition and multiple platinum albums.
After recovering from a stroke, he returned to the stage in 2002 with Dímelo en la calle (Dare to Say That Outside). He later released a double album called Diario de un peatón (A Pedestrian's Log), which included both his previous album and 12 new songs, along with a book illustrated by him.
In 2005 Sabina's released a new record Alivio de luto (Mourning Relief). The album release was accompanied by a DVD that includes interviews, music videos, acoustic versions of the songs, and home-made recordings.
Discography
- Inventario (1978)
- Malas compañías (1980)
- La mandrágora (by Javier Krahe, Joaquín Sabina & Alberto Pérez) (1981)
- Ruleta rusa (1984)
- Juez y parte (Joaquín Sabina y Viceversa) (1985)
- En directo (Joaquín Sabina y Viceversa) (1986)
- Hotel, dulce hotel (1987)
- El hombre del traje gris (1988)
- Mentiras piadosas (1990)
- Física y química (1992)
- Esta boca es mía (1994)
- Yo, mi, me, contigo (1996)
- Enemigos íntimos (Sabina y Páez) (1998)
- 19 días y 500 noches (1999)
- Nos sobran los motivos (Sabina y Cia) (2000)
- Dímelo en la calle (2002)
- Diario de un peatón (2003)
- Alivio de luto (2005)
