) is a Spanish

Spanish people

The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

 singer

Singing

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

, composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

. He is one of the pioneers of rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 in Spain.

Biography

Ríos was born in La Cartuja, a neighborhood of Granada. The youngest of seven children, he went to work in a local bar at the age of fifteen after little formal education. His interest in rock and roll led him to participate in a song contest at Cenicienta 60 radio station

Radio station

Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

, in which he and his friends won a prize for singing the Paul Anka

Paul Anka

Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...

 song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 "You Are My Destiny".

With his mother's permission (his father died a few months earlier), he moved to Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 in 1961 at the age of sixteen, where he recorded

Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

 his first four song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

s. In popular circles he became known as Mike Ríos, the King of Twist.

As Mike Ríos he obtained some television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 popularity during the first half of the 1960s. In 1964 he resumed using his real name which cost him the support of his group, Los Relámpagos (the Lightning). He made his first incursion into cinema

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 with a movie

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 titled Dos chicas locas, locas (Two Crazy Girls).

An introspective search for his true identity resulted in some rocky times. In 1967 he recorded Vuelvo a Granada, El río, Contra el cristal, El cartel, y Mira hacia ti. It was in 1970 that he came to be known as a superstar

Celebrity

A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...

 in Spain. His song "Himno de la alegría" (Hymn of Joy) was an extract of the last movement of the ninth symphony

Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)

The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...

 of Beethoven and appeared at the height of what was known as symphonic rock

Symphonic rock

Symphonic rock is a sub-genre of progressive rock. Since early in progressive rock's history, the term has been used sometimes to distinguish more classically influenced progressive rock from the more psychedelic and experimental forms of progressive rock....

. It was released in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 as "A Song of Joy

A Song of Joy

"A Song of Joy" is the title of a popular rock song by the Spanish singer and actor Miguel Ríos. The song borrows heavily from the final movement of the Ninth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven...

" in May 1970 on the A&M Records

A&M Records

A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...

 label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

, where combined sales in the U.S. and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 reached the one million mark in July. It was awarded a gold record

Music recording sales certification

Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

 by the Recording Industry Association of America

Recording Industry Association of America

The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

.

He sold three million copies worldwide and was number one on some foreign music charts

Record chart

A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....

. It reached Number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 chart in 1970.

The artistic career of Rios came to a sudden stop when he was arrested and jailed for possession of hashish

Hashish

Hashish is a cannabis preparation composed of compressed stalked resin glands, called trichomes, collected from the unfertilized buds of the cannabis plant. It contains the same active ingredients but in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves...

 shortly after his Rock y Amor (Rock and Love) concert

Concert

A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

.

In 1982 Rios released Rock and Rios a live

Live album

A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...

 double album

Double album

A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....

 recorded during the 5 and 6 March in Madrid at the Pabellón del Real Madrid and published in June of the same year. This album is considered by many music critics

Music journalism

Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...

 and fans

Fan (person)

A Fan, sometimes also called aficionado or supporter, is a person with a liking and enthusiasm for something, such as a band or a sports team. Fans of a particular thing or person constitute its fanbase or fandom...

 as one of the most important works of modern Spanish (Iberian) rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 and a turning point for the music industry in Spain. Rios sold over 450,000 copies in less than one year, a feat he never again came close to surpassing. Ironically this concert was a celebration of his 20 years in the music business, yet most of the audience members had not even been born when he began his career. One of the unique aspects of this album was its release. While most live albums at the time were released after a tour was over, Rios released his at the same time as he started his tour. The success of both made him one of the wealthiest entertainers of the era. Rock and Rios is also considered a cultural marker for the transformation of Spanish society as it slowly begun to enjoy the freedoms of a democracy born only six years earlier. It is also thought of as the precursor to Spain's "La Gran Movida" (literal translation: The Great Movement or The Great Flow - conceptual translation: The Great Vibe) which is a term that loosely defines the street youth culture of the 1980s in Spain.

Discography

• Mira hacia ti 1969
• Despierta 1970
• Unidos 1971
• Miguel Ríos en directo: Conciertos de Rock y amor.1972
• Miguel Ríos: Éxitos 1973
• Memorias de un ser humano 1974
• La huerta atómica 1976
• Al-Andalus 1977
• Los viejos rokeros nunca mueren 1979
• Rocanrol bumerang 1980
• Extraños en el escaparate 1981
• Rock and Rios 1982
• El Rock de una noche de verano 1983
• La encrucijada 1984
• Lo más de rock en el ruedo 1985
• El año del cometa 1986
• Que noche la de aquel año 1987
• Miguel Ríos 1989
• Directo al corazón 1991
• Así que pasen treinta años 1992
• Por siempre 1995
• Canciones de amor para tiempos difíciles 1995
• Como si fuera la primera vez 1996
• Miguel Ríos en concierto: Big Band Ríos 1998
• Ana Belén, Miguel Ríos cantan a Kurt Weill
  Kurt Weill
  Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
  
  1999
• Miguel Ríos y las estrellas del rock latino 2001
• 60mp3 2004
• Solo o en compañía de otros 2008
• Bye Bye Ríos 2010