Leon Gieco was born into a family of Italian origin on November 20, 1951, in
Cañada Rosquín, Argentina. At 6 years old, Gieco traveled with his family from the field to the village center due to economic problems. At age 8, Gieco bought his first
guitar on credit, and soon began playing music at local events with his father's band. Throughout his childhood, Gieco played with local bands such as a folkloric group called Los Nocheros (The Night Watchers) and Los Moscos (The Flies), a
rock band that gained some popularity within Argentina. In 1965, Gieco traveled to Bolivia as an exchange student. He studied music and played guitar at local festivities. When Gieco turned 18, he went to
Buenos Aires to become a full-time musician. There, he took guitar lessons from
Gustavo Santaolalla, who introduced him to important people in the Buenos Aires musical community, such as
Raúl Porchetto,
Charly García,
Nito Mestre, and
María Rosa Yorio, future members along with Gieco of the Argentine supergroup,
Porsuigieco. Gieco was given the opportunity to perform in the Buenos Aires Rock Festival in 1971, 1972, and 1973. In 1973, he recorded his first album, "Leon Gieco" ( it was recorded independently with Santaolalla). "En el País de la Libertad" ("In the Country of Freedom"), a hit from his album, demonstrated Gieco's concern for change in Argentina, his concern for
social justice. In 1976 Gieco released
El Fantasma de Canterville ("The Ghost of Canterville"). The record suffered a great deal of
censorship from the
military government forcing him to change the lyrics of 6 songs and remove 3 others altogether. Nevertheless, the record was a success, and he had concerts not only around
Argentina, but also in other countries of
South America. Two years later he released
IV LP, with one of his most famous songs: "
Sólo le pido a Dios" ("I only ask of God"). Due to the political situation in Argentina, Gieco was forced to move to the United States and Italy in 1978 for one year. In the US he lived with family friends in Los Angeles and Ann Arbor, Mi. While in Ann Arbor, he performed at the famous Blues and Jazz Festival in the summer of 1978. On December 20, 1979, the Argentine Minister of Education announced the closing of the
National University of Lujan in Buenos Aires. Gieco participated in a protest against the closing by singing "La Cultura es la Sonrisa". His lyrics say, "(Culture) only cries in a country where people can't choose it/it only cries its sadness if a minister closes a school..." In 1981 Gieco started a 3-year, 110,000-kilometre-long series of independent concerts all over Argentina, playing for a total of 420,000 people. He gathered material from the different places he visited during the tour, and recorded the first volume of
De Ushuaia a La Quiaca ("From
Ushuaia to
La Quiaca" in Buenos Aires with various autochthonous musicians in 1985. The following
De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 2 and
De Ushuaia a La Quiaca 3 were recorded in a mobile studio in different locations of the country. In 1985, Gieco went to
Moscow for the 12th "World Youth and Students' Festival" alongside
Juan Carlos Baglietto and
Litto Nebbia, representing Argentina. In 1986 and 1987, he held concerts in
Germany with his friend
Mercedes Sosa, including that of
Berlin's Political Song Festival. Gieco returned to Argentina and performed free concerts, one for 40,000 spectators at the
National Flag Memorial in Rosario, and the other for 35,000 people in Buenos Aires. At
Boca Juniors'
Stadium he had a concert with
Pablo Milanés and
Chico Buarque, and guest musicians
Mercedes Sosa,
Fito Páez,
Nito Mestre,
Juan Carlos Baglietto and
Sixto Palavecino. At the end of the year he went on a world tour that included countries such as
Mexico,
Peru,
Brazil,
Sweden,
Germany and
Denmark. In 1988, Gieco performed in Germany and
Austria. Back in Argentina he participated in the final concert of the
Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour at
River Plate Stadium, with
Charly García,
Peter Gabriel,
Bruce Springsteen,
Sting, and others. After eight years of touring,
Semillas del corazón ("Seeds of the heart") marked his return to the studio in 1989. That same year he performed at the
Teatro Ópera in Buenos Aires with the American folk legend
Pete Seeger. The following year, Seeger asked him to join a tour that took him to
Washington, D.C.,
Boston and
New York City. There he played with
David Byrne, whom he had met in Buenos Aires shortly before. In 1992, he played with
Milton Nascimento, Mercedes Sosa,
Os Paralamas do Sucesso,
Gilberto Gil and
Rubén Rada at the inauguration of the
Latin American Parliament in
São Paulo. In 1997 he participated in the memorial concert for the
Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, with bands such as
Divididos,
La Renga,
Los Piojos, and
Attaque 77. Gieco began his most recent national tour for social justice,
Mundo Alas, in 2007. Argentine musicians, dancers, singers, and painters, all with
disabilities, performed alongside Gieco, expressing their unique talents and communicating with audiences. He gave these artists the opportunity to live out their dreams as he does. Gieco created a documentary from the road tour which was produced in March, 2009. The film features
rock music,
folk music, and
tango, along with Gieco's original hits. During his stop in
Buenos Aires on his 2013
Wrecking Ball World Tour,
Bruce Springsteen filmed a video for a solo acoustic performance of "Sólo le Pido a Dios". In 2020, he was sentenced to pay a large sum of money for having been sent in an unjustified and discriminatory manner to "Bebe" Carrizo, who had been employed for more than 30 years. The worker accused Gieco of having been marginalized from a European tour because this continent "is desired by a poor black man from Catamarca," who must "conform with Latin America." The court sentenced Gieco to pay Carrizo the sum of 278,499.46 pesos more than the interest for the last four years. The application initiated by Bebe Carrizo in March 2009 included a claim of 1.3 million pesos for the claim that she was the victim of an “unjustified and discriminatory complaint.” After an exchange of telegrams, Carrizo was fired because Gieco did not take him on the tour that was to begin on October 1, 2008. ==Discography==