Take 
Biography
The seed of Maná sprouted in the 80’s in the Mexican city of Guadalajara, when a group of ambitious teenagers with a bongo started a band called Sombrero Verde. In 1986, looking to renew their image, the band adopts the name Maná, under which they would gain international recognition. With Fher Olvera as their singer and the Calleros brothers, Juan and Ulises, on bass and guitar respectively, the line up was completed with the addition of a young and talented drummer, Alex González, of Cuban-Colombian origin. The name Maná was chosen because of the significance it has in the Polynesian language: “Positive Energy,” not precisely for its biblical connotations. Nonetheless, the change did seem as though it was heaven sent, as it enabled them to reach a level of professionalism they had previously been denied.
In 1986, Maná signs a record deal with Poligram and a new era begins with the release of their self-titled debut album, which becomes an important part of a musical movement called “Rock en Tu Idioma” [Rock In Your Language]. This helped open doors for music written in Spanish and proposed a novel alternative to a scene typically dominated by music in English.
With the 90’s came essential changes. Fher and Alex knew the risks involved in putting themselves into the hands of a producer that saw bands as products rather than as an artistic proposition, which is why they opted for a different road that they had not previously traveled: they took over the production of their albums. With this idea in mind, they recorded the album Falta Amor, but it did not succeed until a year after its release and after Maná toured the country giving more than 350 concerts. Finally, the single
Rayando el sol became the first successful hit for Maná and allowed them to introduce other songs to the public, such as Perdido en un barco “Estoy Agotado” and Buscándola”. These later songs quickly gained immense popularity, and awarded Maná their first Gold Record in Mexico.
In 1992, Maná undergoes another change in their lineup with the departure of Ulises Calleros, who has since become the band’s manager. This gave way to the arrival of two new members, keyboard player Iván González and guitarist César “Vampiro” López. With this new composition they recorded ¿Dónde Jugarán Los Niños? in Los Angeles. The album that was a breakthrough in the history of the band, as well as in Rock In Español, with sales of over one million units and a total of eight singles in the charts in Spanish-speaking America.
Now as a trio, Fher, Alex and Juan Diego gave a series of concerts in the United States, with the goal of making a live recording that would reflect all the power and energy of the group, accomplished in a double album called Maná En Vivo. The production included the collaboration of Gustavo Orozco on guitars, Sheila Ríos on background vocals and Juan Carlos Toribio, who still plays keyboards with the group live and in the studio.
Anxious to return to their original quartet format, Maná auditioned guitar players from different countries, until in Aguascalientes, México they finally found the talent they were looking for in the guitarist Sergio Vallín, whose amazing sensibility, technique and versatility imparted a different shine to the sound of the guitars on the bands recordings. With this new line up, Maná recorded and released the album Cuando Los Angeles Lloran, where there is an apparent evolution in the sound and lyrics of the band.
With demos recorded in Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, the album was actually produced in Los Angeles and gave them their first Grammy Nomination, the most important award in the music industry. In this album the following singles are included:Déjame Entrar No Ha Parado De Llover and Hundido En Un Rincón. The album’s tour included four sold-out concerts at Radio City Music Hall in New York, and had them playing in Puerto Rico, a country where Salsa and tropical rhythms are preferred and where Maná’s presence culminated in a boom for rock groups.
The problems of the environment have always been one of the worries of Maná, including many themes related to the ecological crisis that the planet is experiencing. But it’s not enough to just say or declare it; we have to take these matters in our own hands (all of humanity) because world governments cannot do it alone. For Maná, going from saying it to doing it, with regards to preserving the planet, consisted of creating The Selva Negra Foundation, which collaborates actively with governments to guarantee our kids a livable planet. There is a lot more to do, and Maná is an organization that does not like to sit idle during rough times. Since its creation, Selva Negra has financed and supported many important projects in favor of a healthier environment.
The album Sueños Liquidos was born of the desire to create an environment where water, a vital element, has an important presence. Because of this, the record was created in front of the sea in Puerto Vallarta, an important location in the creative atlas of Maná. An endless number of sunsets in front of the ocean were the perfect place to write Sueños Liquidos, an album produced by Fher and Alex with Benny Faccone. The result was an energetic mixture of rock and Latin rhythms that go from Bossanova to Flamenco and pass through the Caribbean cadence of Reggae. Important singles likeEn el muelle de San Blas, Hechicera and Clavado en un bar are part of this album. For the first time in the history of the band, the new record had a simultaneous worldwide release in 36 countries. Also for the first time, they won a Grammy Award. The album was played extensively in the United States and Maná became the first Rock in Español band that performed on the Regis and Kathy Lee Show, a leading program of American TV.
After much insistence, in 1999, Maná decided to accept MTV’s proposition and produced a record and DVD with acoustic versions of their best songs, recorded in a relaxed and intimate environment. The result was Unplugged, one of the best sellers of the video channel’s series, including those released by English speaking artists. For this Unplugged album Maná received two Grammy Awards and consolidated their position in Spain, where they sold-out Plaza las Ventas, the prestigious bullring in Madrid, many times over. They then took the band to Caracas, Venezuela, where they shared a stage and started a fruitful friendship with Rubén Blades.
In an effort to blend the essence of their sound with the sound of 60’s and 70’s rock, Maná recorded Revolución de Amor, where they used instruments and technology from those decades cleverly balanced by the modern platforms of digital sound. The result was a collection of energetic recordings, with a sound that favors the guitars but does not negate exploration and fusion. From this record, which won another Grammy Award, one can hear the following singles: “Ángel de Amor,”Mariposa Traicionera and Eres Mi Religion the latter song released in 2001, as a duet with Zucchero, for the Italian market. Also, Maná received an invitation from the popular Italian singer to play a special version of “Baila Morena”. That same year they were invited to perform in the charity concert Pavarotti & Friends where they shared a stage with Queen, Deep Purple, Ricky Martin, Andrea Boccelli, Zucchero and Bono, with whom they particularly identified through a shared interest in social issues. Subsequently, it was time for a tour, which was to become the most ambitious of Maná’s to date, involving 250 massive concerts with phenomenal lighting and audio quality. In a tour that covered 24 countries, the concert was played out in the best venues of the world, including, for the first time, important stages in Rome, Río de Janeiro and Hamburg.
At the beginning of 2004, the band released a special compilation of three records called Maná Esenciales, with remastered versions of all the unforgettable songs of the band including the unreleased song, “Te Llevaré al Cielo.”
The most recent recording of Maná, Amar Es Combatir, was done at the prestigious studio The Hit Factory Miami in 2006. The album offers 13 songs that, with a full and impeccable sound, respect the essence of the group but veers into new territory. This characteristic of renewal has allowed Maná to maintain their vitality beyond current fashions and trends. Renew or die; nothing holds truer.
In 1986, Maná signs a record deal with Poligram and a new era begins with the release of their self-titled debut album, which becomes an important part of a musical movement called “Rock en Tu Idioma” [Rock In Your Language]. This helped open doors for music written in Spanish and proposed a novel alternative to a scene typically dominated by music in English.
With the 90’s came essential changes. Fher and Alex knew the risks involved in putting themselves into the hands of a producer that saw bands as products rather than as an artistic proposition, which is why they opted for a different road that they had not previously traveled: they took over the production of their albums. With this idea in mind, they recorded the album Falta Amor, but it did not succeed until a year after its release and after Maná toured the country giving more than 350 concerts. Finally, the single
Rayando el sol became the first successful hit for Maná and allowed them to introduce other songs to the public, such as 
Perdido en un barco “Estoy Agotado” and Buscándola”. These later songs quickly gained immense popularity, and awarded Maná their first Gold Record in Mexico. In 1992, Maná undergoes another change in their lineup with the departure of Ulises Calleros, who has since become the band’s manager. This gave way to the arrival of two new members, keyboard player Iván González and guitarist César “Vampiro” López. With this new composition they recorded ¿Dónde Jugarán Los Niños? in Los Angeles. The album that was a breakthrough in the history of the band, as well as in Rock In Español, with sales of over one million units and a total of eight singles in the charts in Spanish-speaking America.
Now as a trio, Fher, Alex and Juan Diego gave a series of concerts in the United States, with the goal of making a live recording that would reflect all the power and energy of the group, accomplished in a double album called Maná En Vivo. The production included the collaboration of Gustavo Orozco on guitars, Sheila Ríos on background vocals and Juan Carlos Toribio, who still plays keyboards with the group live and in the studio.
Anxious to return to their original quartet format, Maná auditioned guitar players from different countries, until in Aguascalientes, México they finally found the talent they were looking for in the guitarist Sergio Vallín, whose amazing sensibility, technique and versatility imparted a different shine to the sound of the guitars on the bands recordings. With this new line up, Maná recorded and released the album Cuando Los Angeles Lloran, where there is an apparent evolution in the sound and lyrics of the band.
With demos recorded in Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, the album was actually produced in Los Angeles and gave them their first Grammy Nomination, the most important award in the music industry. In this album the following singles are included:
Déjame Entrar No Ha Parado De Llover and Hundido En Un Rincón. The album’s tour included four sold-out concerts at Radio City Music Hall in New York, and had them playing in Puerto Rico, a country where Salsa and tropical rhythms are preferred and where Maná’s presence culminated in a boom for rock groups.The problems of the environment have always been one of the worries of Maná, including many themes related to the ecological crisis that the planet is experiencing. But it’s not enough to just say or declare it; we have to take these matters in our own hands (all of humanity) because world governments cannot do it alone. For Maná, going from saying it to doing it, with regards to preserving the planet, consisted of creating The Selva Negra Foundation, which collaborates actively with governments to guarantee our kids a livable planet. There is a lot more to do, and Maná is an organization that does not like to sit idle during rough times. Since its creation, Selva Negra has financed and supported many important projects in favor of a healthier environment.
The album Sueños Liquidos was born of the desire to create an environment where water, a vital element, has an important presence. Because of this, the record was created in front of the sea in Puerto Vallarta, an important location in the creative atlas of Maná. An endless number of sunsets in front of the ocean were the perfect place to write Sueños Liquidos, an album produced by Fher and Alex with Benny Faccone. The result was an energetic mixture of rock and Latin rhythms that go from Bossanova to Flamenco and pass through the Caribbean cadence of Reggae. Important singles like
En el muelle de San Blas, Hechicera and Clavado en un bar are part of this album. For the first time in the history of the band, the new record had a simultaneous worldwide release in 36 countries. Also for the first time, they won a Grammy Award. The album was played extensively in the United States and Maná became the first Rock in Español band that performed on the Regis and Kathy Lee Show, a leading program of American TV.After much insistence, in 1999, Maná decided to accept MTV’s proposition and produced a record and DVD with acoustic versions of their best songs, recorded in a relaxed and intimate environment. The result was Unplugged, one of the best sellers of the video channel’s series, including those released by English speaking artists. For this Unplugged album Maná received two Grammy Awards and consolidated their position in Spain, where they sold-out Plaza las Ventas, the prestigious bullring in Madrid, many times over. They then took the band to Caracas, Venezuela, where they shared a stage and started a fruitful friendship with Rubén Blades.
In an effort to blend the essence of their sound with the sound of 60’s and 70’s rock, Maná recorded Revolución de Amor, where they used instruments and technology from those decades cleverly balanced by the modern platforms of digital sound. The result was a collection of energetic recordings, with a sound that favors the guitars but does not negate exploration and fusion. From this record, which won another Grammy Award, one can hear the following singles: “Ángel de Amor,”
Mariposa Traicionera and Eres Mi Religion the latter song released in 2001, as a duet with Zucchero, for the Italian market. Also, Maná received an invitation from the popular Italian singer to play a special version of “Baila Morena”. That same year they were invited to perform in the charity concert Pavarotti & Friends where they shared a stage with Queen, Deep Purple, Ricky Martin, Andrea Boccelli, Zucchero and Bono, with whom they particularly identified through a shared interest in social issues. Subsequently, it was time for a tour, which was to become the most ambitious of Maná’s to date, involving 250 massive concerts with phenomenal lighting and audio quality. In a tour that covered 24 countries, the concert was played out in the best venues of the world, including, for the first time, important stages in Rome, Río de Janeiro and Hamburg.At the beginning of 2004, the band released a special compilation of three records called Maná Esenciales, with remastered versions of all the unforgettable songs of the band including the unreleased song, “Te Llevaré al Cielo.”
The most recent recording of Maná, Amar Es Combatir, was done at the prestigious studio The Hit Factory Miami in 2006. The album offers 13 songs that, with a full and impeccable sound, respect the essence of the group but veers into new territory. This characteristic of renewal has allowed Maná to maintain their vitality beyond current fashions and trends. Renew or die; nothing holds truer.
