Ana Torroja

Ana Torroja
Background information
Born	December 28, 1959 (1959-12-28) (age 49)
Origin	Spain
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocalist
Years active	1981-present
Associated acts	Mecano
Website	http://www.anatorroja.info/

Ana Torroja (born December 28, 1959), she is the lead singer of the trio Mecano, which has probably been the most popular band from Spain, in the Spanish speaking countries and Europe, during 1980's and 90's, selling millions of albums. In 1998 the group separated, and she kept a successful career. She was a Latin Grammy Award-nominated Spanish vocalist. She was born in Madrid and is the daughter of a noted engineer.

Biography

Ana Torroja met José María Cano while studying economics at university. The two became good friends, and José María soon introduced her to his younger brother, Nacho. After hearing Ana sing José María's guitar compositions, Nacho suggested that the three form a band. In 1981, Mecano was formed.

After seven Mecano albums and huge success in Europe and Latin America, the continuous touring began taking its toll on the band. Ana was especially affected and started developing vocal problems. In 1993, the band announced a temporary split. While José and Nacho released solo albums, Ana chose to travel around the world and visited Hawaii, Bombay, and New York—places she had sung about while with Mecano. She eventually settled in New York and took dance classes.

By 1997, Ana felt confident enough to sing again and moved to London to record her first solo album, Puntos Cardinales (Cardinal points). The album, produced by Tony Mansfield, marked a curious change for Ana. Because her new songs were not written from a male point of view—unlike the Mecano hits written by the Cano brothers—she felt that she could express herself as a woman for the first time. The first single from the album, A Contratiempo, was a Spanish-language cover of an old Bette Midler song, "Bottomless". Both the album and the single went to number 1 in Spain.

In 1998, partially due to the cost and commercial failure of José María's opera project, Mecano reunited for the double-disc greatest hits compilation Ana, José, Nacho, which also featured seven new songs.

Ana's biggest solo success came in 1999 with her album, Pasajes de un Sueño (Passages of a dream). This album was hailed by critics and the first single, Ya No Te Quiero ("I don't love you anymore" or "I don't want you anymore"), became one of the best-selling songs in Spain that year. As a part of the promotion of this album, Torroja undertook, together with Miguel Bosé the "GIRADOS" tour in May 2000, throughout Spain, the United States, and part of Latin America. The tour concluded at the beginning of the following year.

In 2001, Ana tried to reconquer the French audience she had won over at the time of Mecano, recording the album Ana Torroja.

She then took part in the recording of the disc Duetos 2 by the Mexican artist Armando Manzanero, with whom she recorded the song Nada personal (Nothing personal).

In 2003 she published her third album Frágil (Fragile), in which she presented a more genuine pop-based image. For the album, she appeared for the first time solo on stage, in a brief tour across America and Europe called the Gira Fragil (Fragile Tour). It was this material that consolidated her success as a solo artist, and with which she also obtained numerous nominations and prizes such as the Grammy Latino, Shangay (Spain) and Oye (Mexico).

Shortly afterwards, she took a brief break from her musical career, guesting with artists such as Mexican singer, composer, and keyboard player Aleks Syntek in 2004. She dueted with Syntek on the song Duele el amor (Love hurts), which was a major commercial success.

In 2006, Ana released a new studio album called Me Cuesta Tanto Olvidarte, produced by Syntek. The album contained new versions of old Mecano hits. The first single was Los Amantes, which reached #2 on the Spanish charts.

In 2008, Ana decided to work with Schiller, singing Por qué te vas, which went to Number One in the Sehnsucht album charts in Germany.

On May 17, 2008, Ana Torroja was invited by Aleks Syntek to take part in the macro concert of the Fundación ALAS, in aid of children in Latin America. She sang Me cuesta tanto olvidarte, Duele el amor, Corazones, and Te amaré (alongside all the invited artists).

On October 10 2008, she was seriously injured in a car crash in Madrid. According to doctors, she is expected to make a full recovery.^[1]

Ana is currently preparing her fourth studio album in Spanish. The album is being produced by the Venezuelan Andrés Levin, who also produced her second album. The recording of the album has already begun, and the resulting material was scheduled for release in March 2009, however it has been delayed due to her recent car accident.

Discography

Studio albums and Compilations

• "Puntos cardinales" (1997)
• "Points Cardinaux" (1997)
• "Pasajes de un sueño" (1999)
• "Girados en concierto" - a collaboration with Miguel Bosé (2000)
• "Ana Torroja" (2001)
• "Frágil" (2003)
• "Esencial" (2004)
• "Me Cuesta Tanto Olvidarte" (2006)

Covers and Collaborations

• "A Contratiempo and Les Murs (version en français)" ("Bottomless" - Bette Midler) (1995)
• "Hold on" (duet with Jason Hart) (1997) (marketed in 2005)
• "Media Luna" (duet with Deep Forest)(1997)
• "Veinte Mariposas" ("Hidden Like a Secret" - Jimmy Wahisteen/Jorge Drexter) (2003)
• "Quien Dice" ("I Really Don't Think So" - Tina Harris/Marc Nelkin/Jamie Hartman) (2003)
• "Sólo por Eso" ("Rian Que Pour Ça" - Tristan Boccara/Nathaniel Brendel) (2003)
• "Cuatro Días" ("Would You Like Yo Know" - Tina Harris/Mats Berntoft/Anders Bagge) (2003)
• "Menos, Más" ("Vers Ta Voix" - Tino Izzo/Diane Cadieux) (2003)
• "I Wish You Were Here " ("Wish You Were Here" - Waters G.) (2003)
• "Sweet Lullaby" (duet with Deep Forest)(2003)
• "Duele el amor" (duet with Aleks Syntek)("Love Breaks Your Heart")(2004)
• "Enfant de la Lune" (duet with Psy 4 de la Rime, a French hip hop group) (2005)
• "Porque te vas" (duet with Schiller)(2008)

Songs in English

• "Si Fuera Tú" (1997) (If I were you) - Jason Hart
• "Dulce Pesadilla" (1999) (Beautiful Nightmare) - Jason Hart
• "No Estás" (1999) (Don't Fall) - Jason Hart

References

External links

• Mecano WebSite Official - Mecano
• Ana Torroja Homepage
• Forus Official Ana Torroja