Gipsy Kings

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Gipsy Kings
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Biography (Excerpt)

There are no other examples of a non-English speaking band with such a consistent winning streak in the US as the Gipsy Kings; the group is the biggest-selling French act in the States ever. Since the 1987 release of the international hit single “Bamboleo,” from their platinum-selling eponymous debut album, the Gipsy Kings have dominated the world music charts and sold more than 14 million albums worldwide.

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https://www.facebook.com/thegipsykings/
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https://www.instagram.com/gipsykingsmusic/

Over the years the Gipsy Kings—whose members hail from the gypsy settlements in Arles and Montpelier in the south of France—have included singers and guitarists from the Reyes (Canut, Nicolas, Pablo, and Patchai) and Baliardo families (Diego, Paco, and Tonino). Lead singer Nicolas Reyes is the son of famed Flamenco singer José Reyes, who, with Manitas de Plata, sold millions of records in the 1960s and '70s. The band’s vigorous guitar work and passionate vocals are the trademarks of an indigenous musical tradition known as “rumba flamenca.”

There are no other examples of a non-English speaking band (the group’s language is the Gypsy dialect of gitane) with such a consistent winning streak in the US, where the group is the biggest-selling French act ever. Since the 1987 release of the international hit single “Bamboleo,” from their platinum-selling eponymous debut album, the Gipsy Kings have dominated the world music charts and sold more than 14 million albums worldwide—more than four million in the United States alone. Their platinum compilation, The Best of the Gipsy Kings, was on the charts for more than a year.

Albums like the gold-certified Mosaïque, Allegria, Este Mundo, Live, Love & Liberté, Tierra Gitana, Cantos de Amor, and Volare! The Very Best of the Gipsy Kings have provided a steady stream of hits to Billboard’s world music, Latin, and pop charts. The ensemble’s music has been used in numerous motion pictures, including Peter Weir’s Fearless and Joel and Ethan Coen’s The Big Lebowski.

Two PBS specials have contributed to the Gipsy Kings’ ongoing success story. The documentary Tierra Gitana, which aired on hundreds of public television stations in the US in 1996, explores the band’s roots in Gypsy culture and the members’ rich family heritage in flamenco music. Filmed in concert and in the Gypsy camps of Arles, Tierra Gitana provides a glimpse at the vanishing lifestyle of a vibrant traditional people. The hour-long film was released as a home video in December 1996. A second program, filmed in performance at Washington, DC’s Wolf Trap, captures the excitement of the band’s live show in a 60-minute special; it was broadcast on many PBS stations.

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Latest Release

  • July 8, 2022

    To celebrate the 35th anniversary of their 1987 hit song “Bamboleo," Gipsy Kings released this EP of four remixes of the famed track: Pumped Up Mix by Nick Patrick, THRDL!FE REM!X, Miami Mix by Andy Clay, and an acoustic version remixed by Gildas Boclé & Jean Baptiste Boclé.

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News

  • July 8, 2022

    Nonesuch Records releases Bamboleo Remixes—three remixes and one acoustic reworking of Gipsy Kings' hit song, “Bamboleo”—in the US today, marking the song's 35th anniversary. Originally released as a single in 1987 and included on Gipsy Kings’ 1988 self-titled Nonesuch debut, “Bamboleo” was certified silver in the UK, while the album went gold and platinum in the UK and US, respectively. Bamboleo Remixes includes new mixes of the song by Pumped Up (aka Nick Patrick), THRDL!FE (aka Jake Brian Tench), and Miami (aka Andy Clay), as well as an acoustic version of the song remixed by Gildas Boclé & Jean Baptiste Boclé. 

  • September 23, 2016

    The Best of the Gipsy Kings is now available on vinyl for the first time, from Nonesuch Records. The vinyl edition features this popular collection from 1995 on two 140-gram LPs. The initial success of this 18-track compilation, chronicling the first seven years of the group's Nonesuch career, illustrated just how popular the Gipsy Kings had become: It held the top spot on the World Music charts for a full year.

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About Gipsy Kings

  • Over the years the Gipsy Kings—whose members hail from the gypsy settlements in Arles and Montpelier in the south of France—have included singers and guitarists from the Reyes (Canut, Nicolas, Pablo, and Patchai) and Baliardo families (Diego, Paco, and Tonino). Lead singer Nicolas Reyes is the son of famed Flamenco singer José Reyes, who, with Manitas de Plata, sold millions of records in the 1960s and '70s. The band’s vigorous guitar work and passionate vocals are the trademarks of an indigenous musical tradition known as “rumba flamenca.”

    There are no other examples of a non-English speaking band (the group’s language is the Gypsy dialect of gitane) with such a consistent winning streak in the US, where the group is the biggest-selling French act ever. Since the 1987 release of the international hit single “Bamboleo,” from their platinum-selling eponymous debut album, the Gipsy Kings have dominated the world music charts and sold more than 14 million albums worldwide—more than four million in the United States alone. Their platinum compilation, The Best of the Gipsy Kings, was on the charts for more than a year.

    Albums like the gold-certified Mosaïque, Allegria, Este Mundo, Live, Love & Liberté, Tierra Gitana, Cantos de Amor, and Volare! The Very Best of the Gipsy Kings have provided a steady stream of hits to Billboard’s world music, Latin, and pop charts. The ensemble’s music has been used in numerous motion pictures, including Peter Weir’s Fearless and Joel and Ethan Coen’s The Big Lebowski.

    Two PBS specials have contributed to the Gipsy Kings’ ongoing success story. The documentary Tierra Gitana, which aired on hundreds of public television stations in the US in 1996, explores the band’s roots in Gypsy culture and the members’ rich family heritage in flamenco music. Filmed in concert and in the Gypsy camps of Arles, Tierra Gitana provides a glimpse at the vanishing lifestyle of a vibrant traditional people. The hour-long film was released as a home video in December 1996. A second program, filmed in performance at Washington, DC’s Wolf Trap, captures the excitement of the band’s live show in a 60-minute special; it was broadcast on many PBS stations.

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