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The Gipsy Kings are a group of French gypsy (gitane) musicians, best known for bringing rhumba flamenca, a pop-oriented version of traditional flamenco music, to mainstream audiences.
Their debut recordings were "Djoba Djoba", "Bamboleo" and "Volare" (a rhumba version of domenico Modugno's Italian hit "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu"), which were enormously popular in France despite harsh criticism from flamenco purists. <!are these three really debut recordings?>
Gipsy Kings was successful throughout the continent, especially France and England. In 1989, Gipsy Kings was released in the US and it spent 40 weeks on the charts, one of very few Spanish language albums to do so. Other albums include Estrellas, Mosaique, Love & Liberte and Este Mundo.
The Gipsy Kings are members of two related families: the Reyes and the Baliardos (Reyes means Kings in Spanish). They are cousins, and the Baliardos descend from the flamenco great Manitas de Plata. The Gipsy Kings are:
- Nicolas Reyes - lead vocals
- Pablo Reyes - backup vocals, guitar
- Canut Reyes - backup vocals, guitar
- Patchai Reyes - backup vocals, guitar
- Andre Reyes - guitar
- Diego Baliardo - guitar
- Paco Baliardo - guitar
- Tonino Baliardo - lead guitar
Chico Bouchikhi was also a member of the Gipsy Kings, but quit after the album Este Mundo.
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