Lorenzo Antonio

Lorenzo Antonio (born Lorenzo Antonio Sánchez Pohl October 3, 1969, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States), is an American Latin music singer-songwriter, who is known and recognized in Mexico, the United States, and Latin America.

He was raised in both Mexico and in the United States, and is fluent in both Spanish and English.

Most of his songs are in Spanish, but he has released songs in English as well.

Having come from a musical family, Lorenzo Antonio was exposed to music as soon as he was born.

By the age of 5, Antonio's interest in music was very apparent, and his father taught him how to sing "La Bamba", while accompanying himself on the guitar.

He learned this very quickly, and Lorenzo's parents decided to place him in private classical guitar lessons, which he studied from his childhood through his teen years.

Throughout his childhood, Antonio briefly studied the fiddle, banjo, and piano, as well as the cello, which he played throughout elementary school, middle school, and high school.

During these early years, Lorenzo also displayed great vocal and performing abilities and on occasion, his father, Amador Sánchez, also known as the very successful singer / songwriter / producer, Tiny Morrie, would present Lorenzo onstage at his performances.

Antonio's popularity continued to grow, and he became one of the most successful and popular singer / songwriters of the 1980s and 1990s.

His 4 sisters continued for a few years as the children's group, "Chikis", and some years later, became the internationally successful and famous girl group, Sparx.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Antonio toured Mexico, Central America, South America, and the United States extensively.

Most of his international hits came during this time period.

Lorenzo Antonio's career began in June 1982 when at age 12, he and his four sisters (Verónica, Rosamaria, Kristyna, and Carolina) won 1st place in one of the most important talent festivals in all of Latin America, "1er Festival Juguemos A Cantar", which was held in Mexico City and transmitted by Televisa on the immensely popular television show, "Siempre en domingo".

They appeared in the competition as "Lorenzo Antonio y Su Grupo" (Lorenzo Antonio and His Group), and performed Antonio's composition, "Vamos a Jugar".

For winning this competition, Antonio was awarded 3 appearances on "Siempre En Domingo", as well as a record contract with Discos Musart.

This exposure launched Antonio's career, and by the end of 1982, he had become one of the most successful and famous Latin artists of that time, recognized immensely for playing the fiddle, the uniforms that he and his sisters wore (sailor caps and bellbottom pants), as well as for the choreography that he and his four sisters performed to his song, "Vamos a Jugar", which was a song about a dance move very similar to the hokey pokey ", "la mano izquierda va adelante y la derecha para atras" (the left hand goes to the front and the right hand goes to the back).

As Antonio entered his teen years, he separated from his sisters and continued his career as a soloist.

At that time, this was a controversial change due to the group's popularity, and many of their fans did not like this.

Ultimately, the change proved to be a great success for Antonio and his sisters.

In 1987, Antonio scored what is considered to be his greatest hit, and one of the most successful Latin ballads of the 1980s, the now classic ballad, "Doce Rosas."

On May 23, 1987, Doce Rosas reached No. 3 on Billboard Magazine's Top Latin Songs chart.

In 1987, Lorenzo Antonio performed a duet of the song, "El Idioma Del Amor," also known in English as "We've Got Tonight," with Italian singer Fiordaliso.

Among the most popular are, "Vamos A Jugar", "Muchachita", "Como Me Gustas", "Busco Un Amor", "Dile", "No Llorare", "Buscare" (peaked at No. 7 on Billboard's Top Latin Song chart, May 14, 1988), "El No Te Quiere" (peaked at No. 9 on Billboard's Top Latin Song chart, April 12, 1997), "No Quieren Que Te Quiera" (peaked at No. 16 on Billboard's Top Latin Song chart, August 16, 1997), and "Como Cuando Y Porque" (peaked at No. 12 on Billboard's Top Latin Song chart, July 16, 1994), which was an original song written and given to him by Mexican singer / songwriter, Juan Gabriel.

In 1988, Lorenzo Antonio collaborated with Joan Sebastian, Lisa Lopez, Los Joao, and Byanka, on the song, "El Amigo Es," written by Enzo Malepasso, and Joan Sebastian.

In the early 1990s and after a 2-year college stint at the University of New Mexico, Lorenzo Antonio signed with a new record company, Warner Music Group.

At this time, he also met Juan Gabriel and had a successful comeback with the albums, Mi Tributo A Juan Gabriel and Tributo 2.

In the mid-1990s, Antonio focused his attention on his sisters, Sparx.

They were starting to gain notoriety in the Latin market in the United States, and Antonio spent his time writing songs for them.

In the late 1990s, Antonio signed a record deal with Fonovisa Records.

The albums that Antonio released at this time were geared more to the Regional Mexican market, and Antonio's record sales were among the highest of his career.

Not only has Lorenzo Antonio written many of his hit records, ("Vamos A Jugar", "Como Me Gustas", "Lagrimas De Juventud", "Busco Un Amor", "No Quieren Que Te Quiera", and others), but also hits for other artists as well.

Some of the most outstanding are: "El Baile De La Gallina" performed by Tatiana, "Te Amo Te Amo Te Amo", "Los Hijos De Pantaleon", "El De Los Ojos Negros" and ""Si Ya No Hay Amor" performed by his sisters, Sparx.

While Lorenzo Antonio is most known internationally for interpreting romantic ballads, he has also been very successful interpreting New Mexico music and Mariachi music.

Lorenzo Antonio has also released several albums in the Ranchera genre that feature his guitar playing.

One of the songs featured on his Ranchera albums, "Ranchera Jam" featured a mashup of him performing New Mexico style version of Mexican staples like "Cielito Lindo" and Tito Guízar's "Allá en el Rancho Grande" and Country music classics Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" and Hank Williams' "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)".

He participated with his sisters, Sparx, on the certified platinum albums, "Cantan Corridos" (peaked at No. 5 on Billboard's Top Regional Mexican Albums chart on February 8, 1997), and "Cantan Corridos Vol. 2," which are two of the most successful albums of his career.

Lorenzo Antonio and his sisters, Sparx, established a non-profit foundation in 2001.

In 2014, Lorenzo Antonio performed a duet with Ana Bárbara of the song "Caray", which was filmed live and released as a video.

In 2016, Lorenzo Antonio performed a duet with Yolanda del Río of the song "Se Me Olvidó Otra Vez" as a tribute to their friend, Juan Gabriel, just days after his death.

This performance was filmed live and released as a video and as an audio single.