Flavio Enrique "Kike" Santander Lora is a Colombian-American composer, record producer, arranger and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the principal Latino composers of the day, having worked with artists such as

David Bisbal David Bisbal Ferre (born 5 June 1979) is a Spanish singer, songwriter, and actor. He gained his initial fame as the runner-up on the first edition of the reality television talent show '' Operación Triunfo''. He has since released five studi ...

Cristian Castro Cristian Sáinz Castro (born 8 December 1974) is a Mexican pop singer. He is the son of actors Verónica Castro and Manuel "El Loco" Valdés, and nephew of actors Ramón Valdés (known for playing Don Ramón in '' El Chavo del Ocho'') and ...

Thalía Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda (; born 26 August 1971), known mononymously as Thalía, is a Mexican singer, songwriter and actress. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Pop", she is considered one of the most ...

, Chayanne, Natalia Oreiro, Diego Torres, Davi Wornel,

Alejandro Fernández Alejandro Fernández Abarca (; born 24 April 1971) is a Mexican singer. Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, he is the son of the Mexican singer Vicente Fernández. Nicknamed as " El Potrillo" by the media and his fans, he has sold over 20 million rec ...

Olga Tañón Olga Teresa Tañón OrtizIn this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is ''Tañón'' and the second or maternal family name is ''Ortiz''. (born April 13, 1967) is a Puerto Rican singer. Over the course of her career, she has earned two G ...

, Bacilos, José Luis Rodríguez «El Puma» and

Gloria Estefan Gloria María Milagrosa Estefan (; ; born September 1, 1957) is an American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is an eight-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been named one of t ...

among others. Santander has composed more than 710 songs and has sold over 25 million albums worldwide.La Vanguardia: Kike Santander recibirá homenaje en Las Vegas
(in Spanish: Kike Santander will receive homage in Las Vegas). Posted in Thursday, March 10, 2011. Retrieved November 10, 2013, to 2:51pm. His work as songwriter and producer includes themes such as '' Let's Get Loud'' by

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

, '' Abriendo puertas'' by Gloria Estefan, '' Me Estoy Enamorando'' by Alejandro Fernández, '' Mi Vida Sin Tu Amor'' by Cristian Castro, and '' Premonición'' by David Bisbal, as well as many songs recorded by artists such as Thalía, Natalia Oreiro, Gisselle, Edith Márquez,

Luis Miguel Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (; born 19 April 1970) is a Mexican singer and record producer. Born in Puerto Rico to an Italian mother and a Spanish father, he is often referred to as Honorific nicknames in popular music, ''El Sol de Mexico'' ...

, Soledad Pastorutti and the Spanish song for Eurovision Song Contest 2004, amongst others. More than 25 of his songs have been in the coveted Top Ten, as reflected in the Latin ''Billboard'' charts since 1999. More than 15 of his songs are featured within the top 100 played songs by the BMI Association of Authors and Composers. His songs and productions have surpassed 25 million albums worldwide and he has won prizes and awards that are given in the music industry on multiple occasions:

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Lo Nuestro Awards The Lo Nuestro Awards or Premios Lo Nuestro (Spanish language, Spanish for "Ours") is a Spanish-language awards show honoring the best of Latin music (genre), Latin music, presented by TelevisaUnivision, and is carried by its Univision network in ...

Premios TVyNovelas The Premios TVyNovelas are presented annually by Televisa and the magazine TVyNovelas to honor the best Mexican television productions, including telenovelas. Instituted in 1983, the award ceremony rotates between Mexico City and Acapulco. The c ...

, El Heraldo, and BMI in which he has received the most awards in its Latin division, and many more. His brother is the composer

Gustavo Santander Gustavo Adolfo Santander Lora is a Colombian composer who has had great success at international level. He has composed over 200 songs for major artists like David Bisbal, Alejandro Fernández, Cristian Castro, Diego Torres, Ricardo Montaner, ...

Early years

Kike Santander was born in

Santiago de Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, On May 11 1960 and he was raised in La Flora, a typical upper-middle-class neighborhood of Cali. His father was the dentist, poet and guitarist Flavio Santander and his mother's name is Judith. His brother is the composer

. In Cali he spent his first years learning different rhythms and musical skills while studying at Colegio Berchmans from which he graduated in 1977. He began his musical studies at an early age, playing the accordion (his first instrument, which he played since age 8) and experimenting with instruments like acoustic guitar (to age 12), electric guitar (to age 13), lira, the electric bass (to age 16), piano and later devoted himself to the percussion (to age 18).Digital ABC: Kike Santander: “Me siento mitad paraguayo”
(In Spanish: Kike Santander: "I feel that am half Paraguayan"). Published January 6, 2012, to 19:00 pm. Retrieved March 15, 2011, to 23:21 pm. His earliest musical influences came from a wide mix of genres that include indigenous artists of his native country. His main influences were

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

, Anglo-American pop,

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. He studied music at the Cali Conservatory. In 1978, when he was 18, he began his medical studies at the University of Valle from which he graduated in Medicine and Surgery. He worked as a doctor for one year before deciding to dedicate himself completely to studying music and his musical career. As a student, Santander tried his hand at a number of business ventures, such as starting a fish and seafood processing and distributing business, making toothpaste, plaster dolls and sausages. All of these failed and in the process his parents lost their house and savings.

Musical career

Beginning (1987–1993)

He moved to

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

in 1987 where he worked as a jazz bassist and wrote his first song, "El jardín de mis amores" (The garden of my loves), at age 33, that was dedicated to his parents. He met producer Bernardo Ossa, who introduced him to the "big leagues" of advertising agencies, where he devoted his time and effort to write and produce commercial jingles, learning to make melodies that could be remembered. This work earned him the credibility of the advertising agencies in which he became the leading figure in this genre. Santander wrote and produced over 1500 jinglesKike Santander. Compositores
(translation: ColArte , Colombia, Kike Santander. Composers) , language=Spanish, by carlos Vanegas. in the 9 years in which he worked in commercial jingles.

Music career since 1993

In 1993, he met Colombian musician Estéfano, who offered to collaborate with him on an album for José Luis Rodríguez «El Puma», composing his hit "Diosito Santo" (Dear God Holy). Santander began his career as a composer and producer, working also for various Colombian artists such as Marcelo Cezan, for whom he wrote and produced the hits: " Una en un millón" (She is one in a million) and "Hierba Mojada" (Wet Grass) as well as for several local rock and pop bands. It was precisely in that year when Santander received his first award - the BMI award for the song "Boca Dulce Boca" (mouth, sweet mouth) a song he composed along with Stefano and José Luis Rodríguez, "El Puma". It was then, and due to his already recognized talent, that Santander joined forces with

Emilio Estefan Emilio Estefan Gómez (born March 4, 1953) is a Cuban-American musician and producer. Estefan has won 19 Grammy Awards. He first came to prominence as a member of the Miami Sound Machine. He is the husband of singer Gloria Estefan, father of s ...

. This experience officially marked the beginning of his career as a composer and music producer on January 7, 1994. In 1995 Santander received a call from Emilio Estefan, who proposed that he write some songs for a Christmas album that

would record. He agreed, and ended up writing all the songs for the production. The album ('' Abriendo Puertas'') became one of the most successful albums of Gloria Estefan. This was the start of an intense and extremely successful international career as a songwriter, producer and businessman in Miami, Fl. In 1997 Santander created Santander Music Group, a company that is principally engaged in musical production. After Gloria Estefan's album '' Abriendo Puertas'' (in which he composed all the songs) he received the Latin Grammy for Best Tropical Album in 1997. During this year, he composed and produced six songs for the album "Me Estoy Enamorando" (I'm In Love) for

, who was nominated for a Grammy and sold more than three million copies worldwide, making the transition from Ranchero to the Pop music market. Santander also obtained his second Grammy Award for his song "Mi Verdad" (My Truth), performed by Alejandro Fernández, winner for "Best Regional Song" and, in 1999, he also won a second consecutive award BMI "Songwriter of the Year" for "Best Latin Song" with " Si Tú Supieras" (If You Knew). The following year (2000) he garnered the award "Songwriter of the Year" and four honorable mentions. In 2000, he was also honored with another

Latin Grammy Awards The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music, Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish language, S ...

, this time in the "Best Tropical Song" for "Swear" performed by Giselle. In 2002, Santander received the

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...

for Producer of the Year for his work on the tracks "Perdidos En La Noche", "Por Ti Yo Iré", "Que No Me Pierda", "Quisiera", "Si Tu Te Vas" and "Soy De La Gente" by Diego Torres, and the albums '' Azul'' by

and ''Una Vez Mas'' by

Jaime Camil Jaime Federico Said Camil de Saldanha da Gama (born 22 July 1973) is a Mexican actor, singer and television personality. He is best known for his roles as Fernando Mendiola in '' La Fea Más Bella'' and Rogelio de la Vega in '' Jane the Virgin' ...

. During the same year, Santander also produced for artists such as Chayanne, Amaury Gutiérrez, Illegal,

and

, whose single "Azul" reached the top of the charts in USA and Latin America, and remained at number one in ''

''s

Hot Latin Songs The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin music, Latin songs, published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart ranki ...

for 11 consecutive weeks. Santander's career continued to rise by producing and writing hit after hit. In 2002 he produced " Corazón Latino", the first album of Spanish singer

, one of the most successful Latino singers. During this year, Santander also wrote the hit "Por mas que intento" (As much as I try) played by

Gilberto Santa Rosa Gilberto Santa Rosa Cortés (), nicknamed "El Caballero de la Salsa" (The Gentleman of Salsa) (born August 21, 1962), is a Puerto Rican bandleader and singer of salsa and bolero. He is a six-time Grammy Award winner and has sold over three mi ...

, a song nominated for the Latin Grammy Awards for "Best Tropical Song". The song "Tú no Podrás" (You won't be able to) for

, also successful on Billboard Magazine. In 2003, Santander produced the new album "Prohibido Olvidar" (No Forgetting) for

Ricardo Montaner Héctor Eduardo Reglero Montaner (born 8 September 1957), better known as Ricardo Montaner (), is an Argentine-born Venezuelan singer. Since starting his career in the late 1970s, he has released more than 24 albums, and many successful singles ...

, "Natural" for Noelia, "As de Corazones" (Ace of Hearts) for the Spanish Raúl and " Caramelito" for

Rocío Dúrcal María de los Ángeles de las Heras Ortiz (4 October 1944 – 25 March 2006), better known as Rocío Dúrcal (), was a Spanish singer and actress with a career spanning more than four decades. She performed pop music, bolero, mariachi and romanti ...

. For the production of Luis Miguel # 33 wrote the songs "Devuélveme el amor" (Give me love) and "Y sigo" (And I keep). In 2004, he also produced the second album from David Bisbal, " Bulería". In 2007, he was named the Best Songwriter of The Year by

Billboard magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...

.Kike Santander trata de reinventarse. LA - DiarioLibre.com
(Kike Santander tries to reinvent himself in LA - DiarioLibre.com) (In Spanish). In August 2010, he launched his label "Santander Records", primarily oriented towards regional Mexican music, and whose philosophy is to launch and develop different artists and position them. On Thursday, March 10, 2011, Santander received in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

the President Award, the highest distinction of delivering the Latin BMI.

Other projects

After being one of the founding members and serving as Chairman of the Board of the Latin Grammy Academy for four consecutive years, Santander is currently their Chairman Emeritus. In 2002 he was named Chairman of the

Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences The Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., trading as The Latin Recording Academy (; ), is a multinational membership-based association composed of Latin music industry professionals, musicians, producers, recording engineers, and ...

, Inc., and he is very involved with the talent show '' Operación Triunfo'' (a program of which he became director in 2005 and 2006). In 2005 Santander moved to

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain where he created BATUKA, a group fitness workout method with original music he composed. BATUKA was launched on the Spanish market in July 2005 and became an instant phenomenon selling more than 1.5 million

DVDs The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in the first 16 months in Spain only. BATUKA created a new trend in the way to do group fitness and started expanding to other European countries such as Italy, Germany and France. BATUKA is going through an aggressive expansion phase with the creation of six new fitness programs for the health club market as well as its own nutrition method created and developed by Miriam Nelson, one of the most respected authorities in nutrition in the US, as well as its own " Batuka Philosophy" created by Santander, which is a way to educate people about how to achieve a more balanced way of life and a more harmonious inner state. BATUKA was officially launched in North America in 2011 and the rest of Europe in 2012. In 2007, Santander also partnered with the renowned musician, composer and producer Mark Portmann to start a company to create music for film and television. In 2008 he published an autobiography, ''Por amor a la música'' (For the love of music). The book comes with a CD with the "Cancionero de su vida" (in Spanish: song of his life) in which the composer sings the themes that more thrill him. The repertoire ranges from a lullaby his mother sang to him, to hits like "Quiero perderme en tu cuerpo" (I wanna get lost in your body) (David Bisbal). Also in 2008, he composed the music for the stage version of '' Como agua para chocolate'' (Like Water for Chocolate), based on the novel by Mexican writer Laura Esquivel, which premiered on Broadway in 2009. Since late 2013, Kike Santander has been the advisor of the 2º season of contest " La Voz Colombia". In February 2014, Santander launched the QiClub program, an online service online and via monthly subscription, with which people do fitness exercises from their phone or from their tablet. The program has videos of fitness trainers, fitness, a Colombian national, who teach these things. The videos were recorded in Los Angeles to present on television and offer this service through the platforms. Fitness has three programs, one dance; another hike and one more musical strengthening. All these initiatives have original music composed by Santander.Fitness, el nuevo proyecto de Kike Santander
(in Spanish: Fitness, the new draft Kike Santander). Posted in Música June 27, 2013, to 11:07 am. Retrieved in February 15, 2015, to 17:04 pm.

Musical influence

Santander was heavily influenced by the Colombian and international folklore that his parents listened to (especially the Mexican music that his father frequently listened to) during his childhood. Also, during his teens, he frequently listened to tropical music, pop and rock of the '70s, both jazz and classical music. All these styles would be influential in his understanding of music and would influence the way he wrote and composed his songs.

Personal life

In 2001 Santander sued Emilio Estefan for breach of contract, lack of benefit payments and for the title of Producer, where supposedly Estefan was not physically present, thus ending a successful business relationship which began in 1995. Santander has married twice. With his first wife, Gloria Alvarez, he had a son named Sebastian Santander. Now he is married to Paraguayan Adriana López.La vida de Kike Santander contada por sus seres más cercanos
(in Spanish: Kike Santander's life told by their loved ones). Posted by Isabel Pelaez, Reporter of newspapers ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

''. Sunday, September 29, 2013. Retrieved November 10, 2013, to 2:16pm. The couple have two children: Andrea, Adriana's daughter from a previous relationship; and Alejandro, born to the couple in 2008. In 2004 Santander became a naturalized US citizen, and the family settled in Huntington Park, California in October 2010.

Awards and nominations

''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards

Santander has received the following ''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards and nominations.''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards: *1999 Awards: *2000 Awards: *2001 Awards: *2004 Awards: , - , rowspan="2" scope="row", 1999 , rowspan="7" scope="row", Himself , scope="row", Songwriter of the Year , , - , scope="row", Producer of the Year , , - , rowspan="2" scope="row", 2000 , scope="row", Songwriter of the Year , , - , Producer of the Year , , - , rowspan="2" scope="row", 2001 , scope="row", Songwriter of the Year , , - , rowspan="2" scope="row", Producer of the Year , , - ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, , -

BMI Latin awards

Santander has won the following BMI awards.BMI Awards: *1997 Awards: *1999 Awards: *2000 Awards: *2001 Awards: *2002 Awards: *2004 Awards: *2005 Awards: *2006 Awards: *2008 Awards: *2011 Awards: , - , rowspan="2" scope="row", 1997 , scope="row", " Abriendo Puertas" , rowspan="2" scope="row", Award-winning songs , , - , scope="row", " Piel Morena" , , - , rowspan="7" scope="row", 1999 , scope="row", Himself , Songwriter of the Year , , - , rowspan="2" , " Si Tú Supieras" , Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="5", Award-winning songs , , - , " Corazon Prohibido" , , - , " En El Jardin" , , - , " No Sé Olvidar" , , - , "Yo Naci Para Amarte" , , - , rowspan="4" scope="row", 2000 , scope="row", Himself , Songwriter of the Year , , - , "Decir Adios" , rowspan="3", Award-winning songs , , - , "Te Vas" , , - , "Tu Amor" , , - , rowspan="5" scope="row", 2001 , scope="row", Himself , Songwriter of the Year , , - , "Alguna Vez" , rowspan="14" , Award-winning songs , , - , " Da la Vuelta" , , - , "Mi Vida Sin Tu Amor" , , - , "Volver a Amar" , , - , rowspan="3" scope="row", 2002 , " Azul" , , - , "Jurame" , , - , "Si Te Vas" , , - , rowspan="3" scope="row", 2004 , "Con Ella" , , - , "Entre el Delirio y la Locura" , , - , "Por Mas Que Intento" , , - , rowspan="2" scope="row", 2005 , "No Podras" , , - , "Quiero Perderme en Tu Cuerpo" , , - , 2006 , " Buleria" , , - , 2008 , " ¿Quién Me Iba a Decir?" , , - , 2011 , Himself , BMI's President Award , , -

Latin Grammy Awards

Santander has received the following

s and nominations.Latin Grammy Awards: *2000 Awards: *2001 Awards: *2002 Awards: , - , rowspan="2" scope="row",

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, scope="row", "Mi Verdad" , Best Regional Song , , - , " Da la Vuelta" , rowspan="2" scope="row", Best Tropical Song , , - ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, scope="row", "Jurame" , , - ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, scope="row", Himself , Producer of the Year , , -

References

External links

Kike Santander trivia

Free pic

Kike Santander fan site
- news and discography of Kike Santander (in Spanish)
Kike Santander: El cirujano de la música
(In Spanish. Kike Santander: The surgeon of music)
Beta Disc Affinity: Discos producidos por Kike Santander
(in Spanish: albums produced by Kike Santander) {{DEFAULTSORT:Santander, Kike Living people Colombian musicians University of Valle alumni Colombian record producers Colombian emigrants to the United States Record producers from California Latin Grammy Award for Producer of the Year Musicians from Cali Musicians from Los Angeles Jingle composers Naturalized citizens of the United States Latin music record producers Year of birth missing (living people)