Luz

b. Luz Casal, Spain. Originally recording under her full name, Luz has become Spain’s best known female rock/pop singer since she made her debut in 1980 with the hit single, ‘El Ascensor’ (‘The Elevator’). Previously she had played with the ‘exploitation’ rock band the Fannys. ‘El Ascensor’ provided the impetus to procure a significant recording budget for her 1982 debut album, recorded in Madrid, Brussels and Amsterdam. The success of Luz made her a star attraction throughout Europe, confirmed by her successful tour of Czechoslovakia in 1985. This was followed by a major tour of Latin America where her popularity is also huge. A series of strong-selling albums followed throughout the 80s without matching the impact of the debut, but her international profile again rose in the 90s. She appeared alongside U2, Sting and Bruce Springsteen at the 1991 Amnesty International Concert in Chile, while her album of that year, A Contraluz (‘Backlighting’), sold more than half a million copies in Spain alone. In the three-year interim before Como La Flor Prometida (‘Like The Promised Flower’) she toured Japan, Europe and Latin America. With another huge commercial success behind her, Luz remained a fixture in Spain’s public eye, not least due to the outspoken and frank opinions given to media interviewers.