Juanes Honored for Distinguished Humanitarian Leadership

With six solo albums to his credit and multi-platinum sales of more than 16 million copies, Juanes is the world’s leading all-Spanish language rock artist. The multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy Award winner is also frequently recognized as one of the Spanish-speaking world’s leading social media voices with an online following of more than 12 million fans.

The Colombian superstar’s dedication as a global activist extends far beyond his passionate lyrics and is seen in his wide-ranging charitable work for his own Mi Sangre Foundation and as a co-founder of Paz sin Fronteras, an organization that utilizes music to unite populaces regardless of political or geographic divides and advocates that all people are entitled to the basic human right of peace.

Juanes’ Mi Sangre Foundation helps children, adolescents, and youths become key players in the construction of a peaceful Colombia. To accomplish this mission, the Foundation works with populations affected by the armed conflict and focuses on providing psychosocial assistance to heal wounds left by war. Through innovative initiatives that take advantage of art and culture as tools for social transformation, the Foundation equips youth with the skills they need to become agents of change in their communities.

Recorded during a special evening at the New World Symphony space in Miami, Juanes MTV Unplugged was released on May 29, 2012, and quickly debuted at number one on Billboard’s “Top Latin Albums” chart and in eighteen countries throughout Latin America. The album features Juanes collaborating with Latin music legend Juan Luis Guerra, who acted as music director, and sharing duets with special guests Joaquín Sabina and Paula Fernándes. The album’s first single “La Señal” likewise reached number one on the “Hot Latin Songs” chart, giving Juanes the eighth number one song of his career. In November 2012, Juanes MTV Unplugged won the Latin Grammy Awards for “Album of the Year” and “Best Long Form Music Video,” giving Juanes an impressive career total of nineteen Latin Grammys, more than any other solo artist. The accolades for the album have continued, as Juanes just won this year’s Grammy for “Best Latin Pop Artist” and was the only Latin artist to perform on both the Grammy Award broadcast and the MusiCares tribute to Bruce Springsteen.

With numerous performances already completed across Latin America and Europe – and with extensive U.S. concert dates beginning this May, Juanes’ “Loud & Unplugged Tour” has already been praised by Terra as: “a brilliant and emotional unplugged performance that brings together twenty-three songs and more than two hours of dancing and celebration… one of the best shows of the year.”