Juanes

Juanes is a Colombian musician. Born August 9, 1972 in Carolina Del Principe, Antioquia. He has sold more than 10 million albums and won 17 Latin Grammys, more than any other Latin artist, and also one Grammy award. But regardless of that he’s not a show off about it. His real name is Juan Esteban Aristizabal Vasquez, with the age of 36. He is mostly known because of his artistic career, but not just that, also because of his humanitarian work with people.

At the beginning of his musical career in the 1980’s he joined a heavy metal band. In 1998 he decided to leave the band in order to go on a solo musician career, this led him to being one of the best selling Colombian musicians. After his many successes in the musical industry he decided to help people. One of the things he does to help people is to helped aid Colombian victims of anti-personnel mines, these mines don't kill people they are only used to hurt as many people as possible in order to increase medical support required by enemy forces. He inspires people and hopes that someday peace and equality between all human beings rules the earth.

He has organized 2 concerts, both named “peace without borders,” but in different places. On March 16, 2008 in the Colombian-Venezuelan border Juanes organized his first free concert in order to ask for peace. He decided to do his second concert in Cuba. He went through many struggles before this could be a complete success. This is what Juanes said about doing his second concert in Cuba, "Going to Cuba is a symbol that it’s time to change people’s minds, an opportunity to tell the world that people have to change." After this concert was approved he had to finance it with his own money. Regardless of the extremely costly concert he was not at all disappointed, this concert was also free.

I connect to Juanes in 3 ways. First of all is because he was born and raised in Colombia, I was also born and raised in Colombia. Second thing I have in common with Juanes, he doesn’t let people bring him down; instead he has hope and keeps going. Last relation I have with Juanes is that we both like helping people in order to make this world a better place to live in.