Gipsy Kings
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The Gipsy Kings are a group of French Roma (gypsy) musicians, best known for bringing rhumba flamenca, a pop-oriented version of traditional flamenco music, to mainstream audiences.
They became popular with their debut album, self titled Gipsy Kings, which included the songs "Djobi Djoba", "Bamboleo" and "Un Amor". The song "Volare" on their third album Mosaique is a rhumba version of Domenico Modugno's Italian hit "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu". The Gipsy Kings were enormously popular in France despite harsh criticism from flamenco purists. Gipsy Kings was successful throughout Europe, especially France and England. In 1989, Gipsy Kings was released in the US and it spent 40 weeks on the charts, one of very few Spanish language albums to do so.
Their albums include Gipsy Kings, Estrellas, Mosaique, Love & Liberte, Compas, Este Mundo, Somos Gitanos and Roots.
The Gipsy Kings are members of two related families: the Reyes and the Baliardos (Reyes means Kings in Spanish). They are cousins, and the Baliardos descend from the flamenco great Manitas de Plata. The Gipsy Kings are:
- Nicolas Reyes - lead vocals
- Pablo Reyes - backup vocals, guitar
- Canut Reyes - backup vocals, guitar
- Patchai Reyes - backup vocals, guitar
- Andre Reyes - guitar
- Diego Baliardo - guitar
- Paco Baliardo - guitar
- Tonino Baliardo - lead guitar
Chico Bouchikhi was also a member of the Gipsy Kings, but quit after the album Este Mundo.