Soledad Pastorutti

Soledad Pastorutti "La Sole" (born October 12, 1980 in Arequito, Santa Fe) is an Argentine folklore singer, who brought the genre to the younger generations at the end of the 20th century, and the beginning of the 21st.

Her first album, "Ponchos al Viento", is Sony Music's best-selling album ever in Argentina according to Alberto Caldero, Sony Music's president in the late 90s, in an interview with "La Nación" newspaper. Her second album, "La Sole", is Sony Music Argentina's second best-selling album ever.

Career

César Isella took her under his tutelage in 1996, only 15 years old, to participate in the Cosquín folklore festival. Her presentation had an important impact, that gave her a contract with Sony Music Argentina to record and release her first album, "Poncho al Viento", that very same year.

After one year singing in over 181 villages and cities in Argentina, Soledad was already popular in the whole country and by the time her second album was released, her first album became a huge hit in Argentina.

In three years, her album had already sold over 600,000 copies and became Sony Music's Argentina best-selling album ever. She was so incredibly successful and popular the media called her 'Huracan de Arequito' (Arequito's Hurricane).

In 1997 she edited her second disc, "La Sole", which she also presented in several concerts throughout the country, including 10 concerts in Buenos Aires' Teatro Gran Rex. During the whole year, her both albums went to #1 several times. "La Sole" sold over 400,000 copies in one year.

In 1998 her success kept growing, duplicating the number of concerts at the Teatro Gran Rex, and accompanied the Argentina national football team for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In Madrid, Spain, she received a distinction from Sony International for reaching a million units sold of her first two works.

Upon her return, Sony Music Argentina recognised her as the best seller artist of the company in all the musical genres, and edited her third album "A mi gente", recorded live during her concerts. For the first time, folkloric music was getting huge airplay in radios and discos.

In 1999 she became the protagonist of the movie "Edad del Sol" (anagram of her name), and recorded her fourth album "Yo sí Quiero a mi país" this time in studios in Miami under the production of Cuban Emilio Estefan. That album opened doors to other markets in, among others, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Peru, Mexico, United States and Spain in which she would also have concerts.

"Edad del Sol" was a huge production for Argentina's cinema standard and Clarin reported Soledad asked for three times more than an A-list Argentine actor asks for a movie. The movie, about a graduation trip, was shot in Bariloche. The movie was not as successful as expected and "Manuelita", a cartoon based on a popular children song, stole the spotlight and was the most successful national movie in 20 years. The movie also was not well received by critics.

In 2000 she returned, after 2 years, to Buenos Aires for 3 concerts at the Luna Park. In August she participated in the Martigues Folklore Festival where she was widely praised. Back in Argentina she started recording her fifth album, released in October of that year. Before the release, "La Sole" performed at the Barbican Centre of London during a festival of Argentine cinema and music. She also participated of the 2000 International Festival of Viña del Mar, the most important music festival in Chile, where she received the Audience prize.

Her sixth album was recorded in 2001, produced by Alejandro Lerner and Fernando Isella, with a renovated style. She had again concerts at the Gran Rex, and received the "Silver Torch" award at the Viña del Mar Festival.

Soledad debuted on TV in the telenovela (soap opera) "Rincón de Luz" in 2003.

After seven years with her boyfriend Jeremías Audoglio, they married on April 28 in Arequito.

Discography

*1996 - "Poncho Al Viento"
*1997 - "La Sole"
*1998 - "La Sole" (Re-edition 1998 World Cup)
*1998 - "A Mi Gente" [Live]
*1999 - "Yo Sí Quiero A Mi País"
*2000 - "Soledad" [With multimedia content]
*2001 - "Libre"
*2002 - "Libre" (Re-edition)
*2002 - "Juntos Por Única Vez" [live with Horacio Guaraní]
*2003 - "Adonde Vayas"
*2005 - "Diez Años De Soledad" [double CD compilation]
*2008 – "Folklore"

External links

* [http://www.lasole.com Official website]
* [http://www.lasole.net lasole.net]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZPyifbMSE8&mode=related&search= YouTube video of Soledad Pastorutti singing the National Anthem of Argentina]