La Oreja de Van Gogh

File:Amaia montero 2004.jpg

File:Oreja De Van Gogh - Guapa y Más Guapa.jpg

The band was formed under the name Los Sin Nombre (The Nameless) in 1996 by four college students from San Sebastián: Xabi San Martín (keyboard), Pablo Benegas (guitar), Álvaro Fuentes (bass guitar) and Haritz Garde (drums). They recorded cover versions of songs from bands such as U2, Pearl Jam and Nirvana, usually with San Martín providing lead vocals.

As they began to write songs, the band wanted to recruit a female lead vocalist. They met Amaia Montero at a friend's party, and after listening to her sing "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'Connor, Benegas convinced her to join the group. She subsequently became the lead singer of the band. Montero suggested La Oreja de Van Gogh as the name of the band, inspired by the story of Vincent van Gogh severing one of his ears.

The band rose to prominence when it won a local pop-rock music festival in San Sebastian, giving the group the chance to record a 4-song EP. This encouraged the band to send some of their songs to major record companies, with Sony Music-scout Jennifer Ces being the first one interested in the band after listening to only one of the band's songs. She urged them to send her more of their songs to see if they had enough material for an LP. After composing and submitting over 20 tracks in a very short period of time, Ces reacted very positively and signed the band to Epic Records, a subsidiary of Sony.

In 1998, La Oreja de Van Gogh released its debut album Dile al sol, produced by Alejo Stivel, earning praise from contemporary critics and performing well in the Spanish Albums Chart. The album sold more than 800,000 copies and was certified 7-time platinum, and the band received an Ondas Award for Best New Act.

The success of the band was further increased with the 2000 release of El viaje de Copperpot, a reference to the character Chester Copperpot from the 1985 film The Goonies, followed by Lo que te conté mientras te hacías la dormida in 2003. Both albums were produced by Nigel Walker and sold more than 2 million copies worldwide each, establishing La Oreja de Van Gogh as one of the most popular bands in Spain and in Latin America. El viaje de Copperpot was certified diamond in Spain for shipments of over 1,000,000, and singles "La Playa", "Puedes Contar Conmigo" and "Rosas", amongst others, were international hits in most Spanish-speaking countries.

In 2006, the band released its fourth and last studio album with Amaia Montero. Guapa was the best-selling album of 2006 in Spain and won a Latin Grammy for Best Pop Album by a Duo or Group and a 40 Principales Award for Best Spanish Album. Singles "Muñeca de Trapo" and "Dulce Locura" were also very successful, peaking at number 1 in many charts, including the Mexican Singles Chart and the Argentinian Charts. Late in the same year, the band re-released the album as a new edition called Más Guapa, which included a second disc with tracks made for but cut from all of the band's albums since 1998, including both unreleased songs and some alternative versions of previously released tracks. "En Mi Lado del Sofá" was released as ther band's last single before replacing Montero as lead singer.

File:GIBRALTAR MUSIC FESTIVAL 2013 - LA OREJA DE VAN GOGH (9699918237) (5).jpg.]]

In 2007, Amaia Montero left the group and Xabi, Pablo, Álvaro and Haritz held an audition for a new vocalist.

In July 2008, Leire Martínez, a contestant on Factor X, joined the band as lead singer. The song "El Último Vals" was the first single of their album A las cinco en el Astoria. In 2009, they released Nuestra casa a la izquierda del tiempo, which consisted of re-recordings of their older songs with Martinez, the new vocalist, plus one new song.

Their next studio album was Cometas por el cielo, released in 2011, with the first single sharing the name of the album. By then, the band had sold more than 8 million albums worldwide.{{cite news | url=https://www.europafm.com/noticias/oreja-van-gogh-estrena-nuevo-single-nina-que-llora-tus-fiestas_201107285628f0826584a8ccc981d86f.html | title=La Oreja de Van Gogh estrena nuevo single La niña que llora en tus fiestas | trans-title=La Oreja de Van Gogh releases new single La niña que llora en tus fiestas | work=EuropaFm | location=Madrid | date=4 August 2011}} In 2013, they released a live album called Primera Fila, a live recording of previous songs as well as some new tracks including the single "El primer día del resto de mi vida".

In 2016, they released El planeta imaginario, with a tour starting that December. On April 13, 2020, the group released "Abrázame", the first single of their new album, Un susurro en la tormenta, that was released in September 2020. On July 2, the band released another song, "Te pareces tanto a mí".

In October 2024, Leire and the group parted ways.{{Cite news |url=https://www.eldiario.es/cultura/musica/oreja-van-gogh-vuelve-quedarse-vocalista-leire-banda-separan-caminos_1_11731117.html |title=La Oreja de Van Gogh vuelve a quedarse sin vocalista: Leire y la banda separan sus caminos | trans-title=La Oreja de Van Gogh is once again left without a vocalist: Leire and the band part ways | last=Higueras |first=Laura García | work=elDiario.es | date=14 October 2024 | language=es}}

; Current members

• Pablo Benegas – guitars (1996–present)
• Xabi San Martín – keyboards (1996–present)
• Álvaro Fuentes – bass (1996–present)
• Haritz Garde – drums (1996–present)

; Former members

• Leire Martínez – lead vocals (2008–2024)
• Amaia Montero – lead vocals (1996–2007)
• Luis Meyer – guitars (1996)

Timeline

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{{Main article|La Oreja de Van Gogh discography}}

Studio albums

{{col div}}

• Dile al sol (1998)
• El viaje de Copperpot (2000)
• Lo Que te Conté Mientras te Hacías la Dormida (2003)
• Guapa (2006)
• A las Cinco en el Astoria (2008)
• Nuestra casa a la izquierda del tiempo (2009)
• Cometas por el cielo (2011)
• El Planeta Imaginario (2016)
• Un susurro en la tormenta (2020)

{{col div end}}

• 1999: Dile al sol - VHS
• 2002: El viaje de Copperpot - VHS & DVD
• 2003: Lo que te conté mientras te hacías la dormida, Gira 2003 CD+DVD
• 2010: Un viaje por el Mar Muerto, their first full-length feature film, which was filmed in Israel in collaboration with other artists. Included as a bonus disc in the special edition of Nuestra casa a la izquierda del tiempo.
• 2012: Cometas por el Cielo - En directo desde America: Second CD-DVD filmed in Mexico and in Argentina.

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Category:Basque music bands

Category:Latin Grammy Award winners

Category:Latin pop music groups

Category:MTV Europe Music Award winners

Category:Sony Music Spain artists

Category:Spanish musical groups