CARLOS VARELA (CUBA)

Carlos Varela plays with an Alhambra Deseada model

 

Carlos Varela was born in Havana, Cuba, on April 11, 1963.

 

In the late 1980s, Carlos Varela began performing on Cuba's most important stages, eventually becoming one of the island's most popular musicians, capable of drawing massive crowds.

 

Within the Cuban musical landscape, Carlos Varela stands out for the urban sense and chronicler nature of his lyrics, for his stage performances, as well as for his discography with a sound closer to rock than typical Cuban music.

 

His Theater studies at the Higher Institute of Art (Instituto Superior de Arte) became the primary tool for Varela's shows to display the dramatic, emotional, poetic, and musical in an exceptional and unique way.

Varela has conducted multiple tours inside and outside of Cuba alongside giants of song such as Joaquín Sabina, Silvio Rodríguez, Pablo Milanés, Jackson Browne, and Dave Matthews, among others.

 

In 1995, he went on an extensive tour with Joaquín Sabina through several cities in Spain. That year, he received the ONDAS AWARD for Best New Latin Artist for his album COMO LOS PECES. Also in that same year, he co-wrote the song TAN JOVEN Y TAN VIEJO with Sabina, a track that appears on Sabina's album “Yo Mi Me Contigo.”

 

In 2004, Varela toured with American musician Jackson Browne through various European countries.

 

That same year, award-winning Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu chose the song UNA PALABRA for his short film “The Hire - Powder Keg.” UNA PALABRA was also selected by the prominent American director Tony Scott for the final scene of the film “Man on Fire,” starring Denzel Washington, Christopher Walken, Marc Anthony, and Dakota Fanning, among others. This led to this ballad becoming Varela's most covered song, translated into a dozen languages and frequently performed by musicians of different nationalities.

His songs are also performed by Jackson Browne, Joaquin Sabina, Joan Manuel Serrat, Ana Belén, Miguel Bosé, Ana Torroja, Luis Enrique, Pablo Milanés, among others.

 

In 2014 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Queen's University located in Kingston (Ontario, Canada).

 

In 2015, the documentary THE POET OF HAVANA was released on HBO, narrated by Benicio del Toro, about the life and work of Carlos Varela.

 

In 2016, he performed alongside Joshua Bell and Dave Matthews at Lincoln Center in New York.

Since then, he has been invited on multiple occasions by South African musician Dave Matthews to share various stages in the USA, Mexico, and Europe.

 

His discography consists of the albums:

JALISCO PARK (1989)

CARLOS VARELA EN VIVO (1991)

MONEDAS AL AIRE (1992)

COMO LOS PECES (1994)

NUBES (2000)

SIETE (2003)

LOS HIJOS DE GUILLERMO TELL (2005)

ALL HIS GREATEST HITS (2008)

NO ES EL FIN (2009)

CARLOS VARELA 30 AÑOS (2014)

EL GRITO MUDO (2019)

NADA ES COMO ANTES (2024)

 

You can follow Carlos Varela on his official social media:

 

Instagram @carlosvarelaoficial

Facebook @CarlosVarelaOficial

YouTube @CarlosVarela