Charlie Zaa

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Carlos Alberto Sánchez (born 1974),^[1] better known in the entertainment world as Charlie Zaa, is a Colombian singer who has gained fame across Latin America and among Hispanics in the United States. Zaa is the son of singer Luis Humberto Sánchez.^[1]

Zaa was a singer with two famous Colombian salsa orchestras: "Grupo Niche" and "Guayacán".^[1] When he launched his career as a solo artist, he decided to switch to the bolero rhythm.^[2] This career decision was made during the middle 1990s, and Zaa became an instant teen idol in Latin America. At that same time, he also became paparazzi fodder, with his photos coming out in a large number of magazines. Zaa was also featured on the covers of many of these magazines.

Since becoming a solo singer, Zaa has also received much television covering, being featured in a large number of important television shows.

On July 23, 2004, Zaa suffered a severe abdominal pain as he was about to begin a concert in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He could not perform that day, having to be taken to a local hospital. Zaa was then flown to Miami, Florida, where he remained hospitalized until he was diagnosed with having a kidney condition. Soon after, his personal doctor corrected the problem in a surgery performed in his native Colombia.^[3]

Charlie Zaa has recorded over 10 CDs since launching his career as a solo artist. His CD Sentimientos, in which he sings some past hit songs, sold over three million copies throughout Latin America and the United States.^[1] His albums Sentimientos and Un segundo sentimiento led to him winning the 1998 Artist of the Year award at the Billboard Latin Music Awards.^[4] For his fourth album, Zaa returned to the Sonolux studios in Bogotá, where he made his first album Sentimiento, and to his original producer, Milton Salcedo, and recorded old romantic standards, boleros and waltzes, in an attempt to replicate the success of Sentimiento.^[5] Zaa's album De Un Solo Sentimiento was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award in 2002. ^[6]

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