Background

Rubén Blades was born in Panama City to a Cuban mother, musician Anoland Díaz (original surname Bellido de Luna), and a Colombian father, Rubén Darío Blades, Sr., an athlete and percussionist.

Education

Ruben Blades earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Panama in law and political science in 1974. In 1973 Blades' parents had moved to Miami because Rubén, Sr. had been accused by General Manuel Noriega, then chief of military intelligence under President Omar Torrijos, of working for the CIA. The following year, after graduating from the University of Panama, Rubén, Jr. followed his family to the United States, but headed not to Miami, but to New York to try and break into the salsa scene. He began working in the mailroom at Fania Records, where he would eventually become one of the label's major recording artists. He took a break from his musical career in the early 1980s to pursue a Master's Degree in International Law from Harvard University, which he earned in 1985.

Career

Blades has had a significant impact on Latino music and culture writ large, particularly with regards to his recordings with Fania Records and other leading salsa musicians of the 1970s, like Willie Colón. Their joint album "Siembra" is the best-selling salsa album in history, with over 25 million copies sold. He is widely known as the "intellectual" of salsa music, with lyrics that reference Latin American literature and issue bold social critiques on a range of issues affecting Latinos. Regarding his desire to make more explicitly political music during his time with Fania, he recently stated, "It didn't make me popular in the industry, where you aren't supposed to antagonize people, you are supposed to smile and be nice in order to sell records. But I never bought into that."

As an actor, Blades has also had a long and fruitful career, which began in 1983 with the film "The Last Fight" and most recently included a role on the TV show "Fear the Walking Dead." He has often turned down roles that reinforced stereotypes about Latinos. When offered a role as a drug dealer in the hit 1980s show "Miami Vice," he rejected the offer, stating: "When are we going to stop playing the drug addict, the pimp and the whore? ...I could never do that stuff. I'd rather kill myself first." He continued, regarding the scripts he continued to receive: "In half, they want me to play a Colombian coke dealer. In the other half, they want me to play a Cuban coke dealer. Doesn't anyone want me to play a lawyer?"

From 2004 until 2009 Rubén Blades was Minister of Tourism in Panama.

He was named United Nations World Ambassador Against Racism in 2000. In 2006 the president of Chile awarded him the Pablo Neruda Order of Cultural Merit, and in 2010 the president of Ecuador honored him with their Orden Nacional al Mérito Cultural. He has received Honorary Doctorate degrees from Berkeley University in California, Lehman College in the Bronx and the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Achievements

• Rubén Blades was a key figure in popularizing New York-based salsa music in the 1970s, with socially conscious lyrics that commented on poverty and violence in Latino communities and the United States' imperialism in Latin America. However, unlike most musicians, Blades has been able to toggle between multiple careers in his life, including serving as Minister of Tourism in Panama.
  
  Beyond his artistic success, Blades has always had an eye for political activism. In 1994 he formed a political party, Movimiento Papa Egoró ("Mother Earth" in the indigenous Embera language), and ran for president of his native Panama.
  
  

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Hands of Stone 2016
  • Fatal Beauty 1987

• music

  • Caminando 1991
  • Nothing But the Truth 1988
  • Amor Y Control 1992

Religion

Rubén Blades is a Roman Catholic.

Politics

Blades is well-known for his left-leaning political orientation, particularly his critiques of United States imperialism and intervention into Latin America, which have often made their way into his music. His 1980 recording "Tiburón," for example, was an allegorical critique of American imperialism, and "Ollie's Doo-Wop" (1988) addressed the Iran-Contra scandal that funded the United States-backed war against the socialist Sandinista government in Nicaragua. However, he has also been critical of leftist authoritarian governments or "Marxist Leninist dictatorships," as he referred to the governments in Cuba and Venezuela.

Blades' political activism stems from his experience as a young Panamanian in the 1960s who saw Americans living in the Canal Zone disrespecting Panama's sovereignty and treating the country as an extension of the United States. He began to learn about racial segregation in the United States and its historic treatment of Native Americans, which contributed to his emerging political consciousness. United States foreign policy in Central America in the 1970s and 80s - particularly its role in the civil wars in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala - was also an issue that affected Blades deeply.

The United States' invasion of Panama in 1989 to depose Manuel Noriega was a major reason Blades returned to Panama in 1993 to run for president. He founded a political party, Papa Egoró (meaning "Mother Earth" in the Embera language of Panama's indigenous population), and ran for president in 1994, coming in third place out of seven candidates, with 18% of the vote.

He was later asked to join the government of Martín Torrijos, and served as the Minister of Tourism from 2004 to 2009, an important post since tourism is the country's main economic driver. He has spoken about not wanting to sacrifice Panama's natural environment in exchange for foreign investment, and the fact that he stressed the development of small-scale eco-tourism and cultural tourism over large-scale tourist amenities.

There has been speculation for years about whether Blades will run for president again in Panama, but thus far he has not made an announcement to that effect.

Views

Quotations: "What good is it to know something, if you don't share what you know?"

Membership

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  American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers

• 

  National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

• 

  American Federation of Television and Radio Artists

• 

  1984-1985 - Vice president

  Harvard Law School Association

• 

  Colegio Nacional de Abogados

• 

  Amnesty International

Personality

Rubén Blades is a family man with hobbies, in love with and committed to his craft; a man who delights in wandering about rather than being held back by modern luxury and comfort. Ruben's portrayal is that of a mature man, aware of his doings and his trajectory, and proud of his yearning to continue creating.

Physical Characteristics: Height: 5' 10" (1,78 m)

Interests

• Reading, writing poetry, dominoes, collecting toy soldiers

• Writers

  Comic books

• Sport & Clubs

  Golf, baseball, soccer, boxing

• Music & Bands

  Salsa music

Connections

Ruben Blades married Lisa Lebenzon on December 13, 1986. They later got divorced. He again tied the nuptial knot with Luba Mason in 2006 and remained unseparated till date. Blades has one son, Joseph Verne.

Father:

Rubén Darío Blades, Sr.

Mother:

Anoland Díaz

Spouse:

Luba Mason

(married 2006)

ex-spouse:

Lisa Lebenzon

(married 1986)

Son:

Joseph Verne

colleague:

Willie Colón

Willie Colón is an American trombonist, composer, bandleader, and activist who helped to popularize salsa music in the United States in the 1970s.

References

• Rubén Blades Official Page