Entertainment · Music · 9 hrs ago
Jorge Drexler turns a lifetime of restraint into music about dancing
Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler is embracing dance after saying he did not dance until he was 45.
He grew up in Montevideo under a civic-military dictatorship that was hostile to artists and musicians.
He says the dictatorship’s effects stayed with him, even after it ended.
Drexler studied medicine while writing songs and performing at night, then moved to Madrid to build a music career.
His early albums struggled, but he later combined scientific ideas with poetic and personal themes in his songwriting.
His song for The Motorcycle Diaries won an Oscar in 2005, though he was not invited to perform at the ceremony.
His latest album Taracá has eight Latin Grammy nominations, with the awards due on 12 November.
Jorge Drexler says it took him decades to overcome the effects of growing up under a dictatorship that discouraged artistic and liberal life.
The Uruguayan singer says he did not dance until he was 45.
His latest album, Taracá, explores dancing, including how authorities have banned forms of it over the centuries.
Drexler first trained and worked as a doctor while writing and performing music at night.
His song El Otro Lado del Rio won the best original song Oscar in 2005.
- Who
- Jorge Drexler, a Uruguayan singer-songwriter and former doctor.
- What
- He is making music about dancing and reflecting on how he overcame a lifetime of restraint.
- When
- His latest album Taracá was nominated for eight Latin Grammys ahead of the awards on 12 November.
- Where
- Drexler was born and raised in Montevideo and has lived in Madrid for more than half his life.
- Why
- He says the effects of growing up under a dictatorship took decades to shake off.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Drexler’s song El Otro Lado del Rio won the best original song Oscar, though he was not invited to perform at the ceremony.
Drexler says he began to shake off the effects of his upbringing by making the album Bailar en la Cueva.
Drexler’s latest album Taracá was nominated for eight Latin Grammys ahead of the awards.
- Birthplace
- Montevideo, Uruguay
- Current age
- 62
- Oscar-winning song
- El Otro Lado del Rio
- Oscar year
- 2005
- Latest album
- Taracá, nominated for eight Latin Grammys
What people are saying
Dictatorships end, but their effects don’t leave your body so easily.
You could say I didn’t dance until I was 45.
I grew up in a society that didn’t dance.