He became involved in music since he was 15 years of age. In 1979, he and his brother Alejandro formed the underground rock band ZAS. The following year he managed to contact
Queen frontman
Freddie Mercury and gain a spot on stage as the opening act for the British group for their
Buenos Aires concerts. He turned ZAS into one of the most important Argentine rock bands of the early 80s. In 1986, Mateos recorded in the United States his first solo album (officially, but in practice he still used members of ZAS as supporting band). With a much more polished sound, and greater pop accessibility than the ZAS works, Mateos jumped on the crest of the wave of Argentine rock acts that dominated the 1986–1988 period all over Latin America, Spain, and elsewhere.
Solos en América was considered a watershed album containing cuts that would become classics of
Rock en Español from that time, including the homonymous track, "Cuando Seas Grande", and "Mi Sombra en la Pared". He was among the first
Rock en Español acts to receive active support from fledgling MTV International. Mateos went on the so-called first Rock en Español tour of the United States in 1990, where he was awarded the Bravo Musical Award.He released
Bar Imperio in 1998 and after a hiatus released
Uno in 2005. == Discography ==