Jorge Abner Drexler Prada is a Uruguayan musician, actor and doctor specializing in otolaryngology. In 2004, Drexler won wide acclaim after becoming the first Uruguayan to win an Academy Award, which he won for composing the song "Al Otro Lado del Río" from The Motorcycle Diaries.
Early life
Drexler was born in Montevideo. In 1939 his father, a German Jew, fled to Uruguay with his family at the age of four to escape the Holocaust. His family also fled to Bolivia and lived there. At the time, only Bolivia among South American countries was widely open to Jewish immigrants. And over six decades later as his gratitude to Bolivia he made a song, which is included in Bailar en la Cueva. His mother is a Christian of mixed Spanish, French, and Portuguese descent. Drexler was raised Jewish, but does not follow any organized religion. Like much of his family, he studied medicine and became an otolaryngologist—an ear, nose and throat specialist. Drexler began playing piano at age five, before attending guitar and composition classes. Although he had an interest in music, he became a doctor like both of his parents. He attended medical school in Montevideo. During his time in medical school, Drexler took a break to hitchhike through Brazil. He also studied music and recorded two albums, which were only released in Uruguay.
Career
In 1995 he was invited to Madrid by well-known Spanish songwriter Joaquín Sabina, who introduced him to other important Spanish singers. Drexler went to Spain to record the albumVaivén in 1996 with Spanish musicians. Vaivén included some old songs from his previous releases mixed with new compositions. He moved to Spain and recorded another four albums: Llueve, Frontera, Sea and Eco. In 2001, Drexler co-wrote two songs for Spanish singer Rosario Flores for her album Muchas Flores. Drexler's song "Al Otro Lado del Río" appeared in the internationally acclaimed film The Motorcycle Diaries. Though Drexler himself sang the song on the movie soundtrack, he was not allowed to perform the song at the 2005 Academy Awards, since "he was not popular enough," according to Spanish newspaper El País; Spanish actor Antonio Banderas and Mexican-American musician Carlos Santana sang the track instead. Upon winning, Drexler recited two verses of the song at the podium. Drexler became the first Uruguayan to win an Academy Award. After that, he released 12 Segundos de Oscuridad ; this album contained ten original songs and two covers: "High and Dry" from British band Radiohead and "Disneylandia" from Brazilian Titãs. Although he lives most of the year in Spain, his albums were partially recorded in Uruguay with Uruguayan musicians. Juan Campodónico and Carlos Casacuberta, former members of rock bandEl Peyote Asesino, had produced Drexler's albums from Frontera to 12 Segundos De Oscuridad. In 2008, he released a double live album, recorded in diverse concerts in Spain: Cara B, mainly filled with songs previously unreleased. During 2009, Drexler worked with Colombian performer Shakira on the Spanish-language versions of her singles "She Wolf", "Did it Again" and "Waka Waka. Drexler recorded Amar la Trama from November 1–4, 2009 in Madrid, Spain in just four days, with musicians playing live on studio. Drexler described the album as playful, without "the melancholy and anguish" of 12 Segundos. Amar la Trama was recorded in a television studio in front of a small audience who were selected in an online contest. He chose this format to avoid the "coldness" of the recording studio. His album "Bailar en la cueva", released in 2014, shows a new facet of the artist leaning towards rhythm and dance, a contrast to his previous albums which he describes as more introspective and nostalgic. In particular, he has pointed out that it is a very different album to the last one, describing it as the opposite pole to "Amar la Trama". His music is a combination of Uruguayan traditional music, bossa nova, pop, jazz and electronic music, which results in very personal compositions with original arrangements. The words also play an important role in his songs. Apart from love, reflections about identity, race and religions are a constant in his work.
Personal life
Drexler was previously married to singer-songwriter Ana Laan. His girlfriend is Spanish actress/singer Leonor Watling, with whom he has two children. Watling is in the band Marlango. His cousin is the scientist Alejandra Melfo.
Awards and nominations
Aside from his Academy Award for Best Original Song, Drexler has been nominated five times at the Grammy Awards, for the albums Eco, 12 Segundos de Oscuridad, Cara B, Bailar en la Cueva, and Salvavidas de Hielo ; and received five Latin Grammy Awards, twice for Best Singer-Songwriter Album and Record of the Year and one for Song of the Year. For his work writing Spanish-language versions of singles by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, he has received five ASCAP Latin Awards. Drexler also received a Goya Award in 2010 with the song "Que El Soneto Nos Tome Por Sorpresa", written for the Spanish film Lope; the same year he was named Commander of the Order of Isabella the Catholic for his musical contributions. Overall, Drexler has received 13 awards from 46 nominations. In November 2018, Drexler took home record of the year and the song of the year for "Telefonía" and the best singer-songwriter album for "Salvavidas de Hielo" at the Latin Grammys 2018.
