José Miguel Conejo Torres (born in Madrid, 28 April 1980), better known by his artistic name Leiva, is a Spanish singer, musician and songwriter. Between 2001 and 2010 he led with Ruben Pozo the Spanish rock band Pereza, with which he recorded 6 albums. After the dissolution of the band, he started a solo career[1] with 3 charting solo albums: Diciembre in 2012, Pólvora in 2014[2] and Monstruos in 2016.

Leiva
Leiva at the 32nd Goya Awards in 2018
Leiva at the 32nd Goya Awards in 2018
Background information
Birth nameJosé Miguel Conejo Torres
Born (1980-04-28) 28 April 1980 (age 44)
Madrid, Spain
OriginMadrid, Spain
GenresRock and roll
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active2001–present
WebsiteOfficial website
Leiva performing live in Pereza

Biography

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Leiva was born and raised in the neighborhood of Alameda de Osuna, in the northeast suburbs of Madrid. His great love of football coupled with his strong resemblance to Leivinha, a Brazilian footballer who at the time played for Atlético de Madrid, earned him the nickname Leiva. He would later use it as his stage name.

In Pereza

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His first musical activity was in 1994, as he became part of the Malahierba band in which he was a drummer. In 1998 he formed a trio band together with Rubén Pozo and drummer Tuli with the intention of making cover versions of Leño. Subsequently Malahierba would evolve and become the band Pereza. The band released its debut album in 2001, but without much success. From the second album, Algo para cantar in 2003, the formation became a duo of Leiva and Ruben. With Animales in 2005, they gained great fame and consolidated their position as one of the most important Spanish pop rock bands. Pereza had three more albums, Los amigos de los animales in 2006, Aproximaciones in 2007 and Aviones in 2009.

Solo career

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The duo split in September 2011 with Leiva continuing as a solo singer, songwriter and musician.

The first solo album of Leiva was Diciembre (2012), that was self-produced and received positive reviews and awards such as the Rolling Stone Award for best album of the year and two Latin Grammy nominations.

In January 2014 Leiva came out with his second solo album, titled Pólvora, a co-production with the Spanish musician Carlos Raya and Joe Blaney as soundman.

Both albums have proven very successful with Leiva releasing three singles charting singles on the Spanish singles market, and charting in PROMUSICAE charts, namely "Eme", "Afuera en la ciudad" and "Terriblemente Cruel" the latter two making it to positions 6 and 5 respectively on the Spanish charts. 'Eme' is a song which was dedicated to Michelle Jenner after a tough breakup. The singer express the left of her girlfriend, his feelings and his thoughts, hoping that she would come back.

In 2016 Leiva came out with "Monstruos". Is a record in which he explains the monsters the common social fears at bedtime.

Discography

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Albums and DVDs with Pereza

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  • 2001: Pereza (the only album as a trio, Rubén, Leiva and Tuli).
  • 2002: Algo para cantar (as a duo of Rubén and Leiva)
  • 2003: Algo para encantar (DVD)
  • 2004: Algo para cantar (Special edition).
  • 2005: Animales ("Princesas" became a successful single from the album)
  • 2005: Princesas (DVD)
  • 2006: Los amigos de los animales (Album and DVD)
  • 2006: Barcelona (Album and DVD)
  • 2007: Aproximaciones
  • 2009: Baires, libro (Album and DVD)
  • 2009: Aviones (Album and DVD) (notably romantic songs like "Llévame al baile"
  • 2010: 10 años

Solo albums

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Studio albums

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Year Album Peak positions Certification
SPA
[3]
2012 Diciembre 3
2014 Pólvora 1
2016 Monstruos 1
  • PROMUSICAE: Gold[5]
2019 Nuclear 1
  • PROMUSICAE: Platinum[6]
2021 Cuando Te Muerdes el Labio 1
  • PROMUSICAE: Platinum[7]

Live albums

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Year Album Peak positions
SPA
[3]
2020 Madrid Nuclear (En Directo) 1

Solo singles

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  • "Eme" (2012)
  • "Terriblemente Cruel" (2013)
  • "Afuera En La Ciudad" (2014)
  • "Mirada Perdida" (2014)
  • "Sixteen" (featuring Carlos Tarque and Fito Cabrales) (2015)
  • "Sincericidio" (2016)
  • "La Lluvia en los Zapatos" (2016)
  • "Breaking Bad" (2017)
  • "La Llamada" (2017)
  • "No Te Preocupes por Mi" (2018)
  • "Nuclear" (2019)
  • "Lobos" (2019)
  • "En El Espacio" (2019)
  • "Mi Pequeño Chernóbil" (2020)
  • "La Estación Eterna" (2020)

Awards and nominations

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Award Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.
Goya Awards 2017 Best Original Song "La Llamada" from Holy Camp! Won [8]
2023 "Sintiéndolo Mucho" from Sintiéndolo Mucho (shared with Joaquín Sabina) Won [9]
Latin Grammy Awards 2012 Best Pop/Rock Album Diciembre Nominated [10]
2013 Best Short Form Music Video "Vis a Vis" Nominated [11]
2017 "Sincericidio" Nominated [12]
2018 Best Rock Song "La Llamada" Nominated [13]
2019 "Godzilla" (featuring Enrique Bunbury and Ximena Sariñana) Nominated [14]
Best Pop/Rock Album Nuclear Nominated
Los 40 Music Awards 2014 Best Spanish Act Himself Nominated [15]
Best Spanish Rock Act Won
Best Spanish Album Pólvora Nominated
Best Spanish Song "Terriblemente Cruel" Nominated
2016 Artist of the Year Himself Won [16]
Critic Award Nominated
Album of the Year Monstruos Nominated
Video of the Year "Sincericidio" Nominated
2017 Artist of the Year Himself Nominated [17]
Song of the Year "La Lluvia en los Zapatos" Nominated
Video of the Year Won
Tour of the Year Gira Monstruos Nominated
2018 Song of the Year "La Llamada" Nominated [18]
2019 Artist of the Year Himself Nominated [19]
Album of the Year Nuclear Won
Video of the Year "No Te Preocupes por Mí" Nominated
Festival, Tour or Concert of the Year Tour Nuclear Nominated
2022 Golden Music Award Himself Won [20]
Album of the Year Cuando Te Muerdes el Labio Nominated [21]
Best Collaboration "Premio de Consolación" (with Natalia Lacunza) Nominated
MTV Europe Music Awards 2014 Best Spanish Act Himself Nominated [22]
2015 Nominated [23]
2016 Nominated [24]
2020 Nominated [25]
Premios Odeón 2020 Album of the Year Nuclear Nominated [26]
Best Male Artist Himself Nominated
2021 Best Rock Artist Won [27]
Best Rock Album Madrid Nuclear Nominated

Note: Three albums by Leiva have been nominated for Best Recording Package with the art director of each receiving the nomination; Boa Morente was nominated for Nuclear in 2019 and Cuando Te Muerdes el Labio (Edición Cerámica) in 2022, while Emilio Morente was nominated for Madrid Nuclear in 2021.

References

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  1. ^ "Leiva: 'Podíamos haber seguido con 'Pereza', pero nos apetecía hacer otras cosas'" (in Spanish). ondacero.es. January 25, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  2. ^ JUANJO ORDÁS (January 24, 2014). "Diez canciones esenciales de Leiva (y Pereza)" (in Spanish). efeeme.es. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Leiva discography". spanishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  4. ^ "Pólvora - Leiva". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  5. ^ "Monstruos - Leiva". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  6. ^ "NUCLEAR - Leiva". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  7. ^ "NUCLEAR - Leiva". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  8. ^ "Todos los nominados a los Premios Goya 2018". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  9. ^ "Los ganadores de los Premios Goya 2023". El País (in Spanish). 11 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  10. ^ Quintana, Carlos (September 25, 2012). "2012 Latin Grammy Awards Nominees". About.com Guide. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  11. ^ "Premios Latin Grammy 2013: conozca la lista de nominados". Terra Networks (in Spanish). Telefónica. September 25, 2013. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  12. ^ "Los nominados a los Latin Grammy 2017 son..." TNT (in Spanish). Turner Broadcasting System. September 26, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  13. ^ Fernandez, Suzette (September 20, 2018). "Latin Grammys 2018: Watch All the Best Short-Form Video Nominees". Billboard. Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  14. ^ "Latin Grammy 2019: Conoce la lista completa de nominados". RPP Noticias (in Spanish). November 14, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  15. ^ "Conoce los nominados a los Premios 40 Principales Ballantine's 2014". Los 40 Principales. October 9, 2014. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  16. ^ "SIA, Leiva, Maluma, Robbie, Shakira, Manuel Carrasco o Love of Lesbian triunfan en la gala más potente y buenrollista de LOS40 Music Awards". LOS40 (in Spanish). 2 December 2016. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  17. ^ "EL TRIUNFO DE U2, ALEJANDRO SANZ Y 'DESPACITO', EN LA GALA MÁS ESPECTACULAR DE LOS40 MUSIC AWARDS". Los 40. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  18. ^ "Nominados a Los40 Music Awards 2018". Los 40 (in Spanish). PRISA. 2018. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  19. ^ "LOS40 Music Awards 2019: artistas nominados". LOS40 (in Spanish). Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  20. ^ Flores, Griselda (5 November 2022). "2022 Los40 Music Awards: Winners List". Billboard. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  21. ^ divino, Equipo (2022-09-28). "Lista completa de nominados a LOS40 Music Awards 2022: Rosalía y Harry Styles arrasan en candidaturas". Divinity (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  22. ^ "Enrique Iglesias, Mejor Artista Español en los MTV EMA 2014" (in Spanish). El Diario Vasco. October 23, 2014. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  23. ^ "MTV nomina a Sanz, Leiva, Neuman y Sweet California a "mejor artista español"" (in Spanish). elDiario.es. September 9, 2015. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  24. ^ "Álvaro Soler, Amaral, Bunbury, Corizonas y Leiva compiten este domingo en los MTV EMAS 2016 por 'Mejor artista español'" (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. November 5, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  25. ^ "¡A VOTAR! ¡LOS NOMINADOS A LOS MTV EMA 2020 YA ESTÁN AQUÍ!" (in Spanish). MTV News. October 6, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  26. ^ "Rosalía, Leiva o Amaia nominados a los nuevos Premios Odeón". HOLA USA (in Spanish). December 23, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  27. ^ "Los premios Odeón nombran a sus ganadores en una edición sin gala ni alfombra". Hola (in Spanish). March 10, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.