Carmen Linares
Carmen Linares, with more than 50 years of experience on stage, is already a living legend of female flamenco singing.
Biography of Carmen Linares
Singer. Carmen Pacheco Rodríguez, whose artistic name is Carmen Linares, was born in Linares, Jaén. She is a generation mate of artists such as Camarón, Tomatito, Paco de Lucía, Enrique Morente and José Mercé. She herself has become a reference and a legend. To such an extent that she has been the teacher and voice of young singers such as Miguel Poveda, Marina Heredia, Arcángel and Estrella Morente.
The number of presentations is innumerable, but the success of her shows has led her to visit many countries. Oasis Abierto, Ensayo Flamenco, Remembranzas, Encuentro and Cu4tro are some of the most outstanding.
Throughout her fifty years of flamenco career she has worked with iconic artists such as Rafaela Carrasco, Belén Maya, Tomasito, Juan Carlos Romero, Carles Benavent, Javier Barón, Cañizares, Tino Di Geraldo and Miguel Ángel Cortés, among many others.
She has made a place for herself on her own merit, standing out as the only woman in the art of flamenco to win a National Music Award for Performance in 2011. During 2019 she paid tribute to the poet Miguel Hernández and Federico García Lorca through her album Verso a verso, which featured musical and dance accompaniment in live performances.
An album for history
Verso a Verso, a tribute to Miguel Hernández
It has already become a classic that Carmen Linares interprets Spanish poets, this time it is Miguel Hernandez who puts text to the voice of the lady of the cante. Accompanied by a great cast of artists, such as the quintet Camerata Flamenco Project (CFP), the guitarists Salvador Gutiérrez and Eduardo Pacheco or the pianist and composer Pablo Suárez.
Carmen Linares is a living reference and teacher of generations. A walking legend of flamenco.
Awards given to Carmen Linares
Year Award
2019 Gold Medal of Madrid City Council4
2019 Terras sem Sombra International Award granted by the Terras sem Sombra Festival held in Alentejo (Portugal).
2019 Master of Mediterranean Music Award from Berklee College of Music in Boston.
2019 Goya Awards Nomination for the song "Tarde azul de abril" by Roque Baños for the film "El hombre que mató a Don Quijote" by Terry Gilliam.
2018 MIN Award Best Flamenco Album "Verso a Verso canta a Miguel Hernández".
2017 Flamenco Legend Award
2011 Academy of Music Honor Award
2009 Latin Grammy Nomination in Best Flamenco Album category for "Raíces y Alas".
2009 Best Flamenco Album at Premios de la Música for "Raíces y Alas".
2004 Best Flamenco Album in Premios de la Música for "Territorio Flamenco".
2006 Gold Medal of Fine Arts awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture.
2001 National Music Award granted by the Ministry of Culture of Spain.
1999 Compás del Cante Award granted by the Cruz Campo Foundation.5
2003 Latin Grammy nomination in Best Flamenco Album category for "Un Ramito de Locura".
2003 Nomination for Best Flamenco Album at the Premios de la Música for the album "Ramito de Locura".
1998 Silver Medal of the Junta de Andalucía (Andalusian Government)
1991 Best Album of the Year Award granted by the French Record Academy
1988 ICARO Award for Best Album of the Year granted by Diario 16
Carmen Linares, to get to where she has reached, says that you have to "love flamenco deeply, the more you know about your art the better because you can give it everything. There is a tradition that you have to know, a root, and then fly", she says. Fortunately, her family made it easy for her to dedicate herself to an artistic profession, something for which a woman used to encounter many problems at that time. "If God gave you that gift, you have to use it," she remembers her father telling her. (lasexta.com)
