Manu Chao

From busking on the streets of France to topping the bill at festivals around the globe, Manu Chao became a star of the world music scene with his melting pot of funky, Latin rock. Raised in Paris by Spanish parents who fled the regime of General Franco, Chao was inspired by the British punk movement and made his name in Europe and South America in the late 1980s/early 1990s with his band Mano Negra. Singing in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and English, he turned himself into a troubadour figure in the late 1990s and delved into street styles from Mexico, Brazil and Argentina on debut solo album Clandestino (1998). Part Bob Marley, part Joe Strummer, part political revolutionary, Chao developed his own skanking sound of the Caribbean on Proxima Estacion: Esperanza (2001), before his high energy collision of cultures was captured on live album Radio Bemba Sound System (2002). A hero to anti-globalisation protesters, Chao has produced albums for Amadou & Mariam and had his songs Bongo Bong and Je Ne T'aime Plus covered by Robbie Williams and Lily Allen.

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