Look up las in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

LAS may stand for:

• Little Angels' School, a top school in Nepal
• L.A. Symphony, a Christian hip hop group from Los Angeles
• League of Arab States, an international organization of Arab nations
• Leeds Atheist Society, a student group in Leeds, United Kingdom
• Legal Aid Society, an American provider of legal services
• Leysin American School, a boarding school in Switzerland
• Líneas Aéreas Suramericanas, an airline based in Bogotá, Colombia
• Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
• Log ASCII Standard, a standard digital format for wellbore logs in the petroleum industry
• London Ambulance Service, an emergency service in London
• Lymphadenopathy syndrome, an AIDS related syndrome
• McCarran International Airport, an airport in Las Vegas, Nevada with IATA code LAS
• Association of Lithuanian Automobilists, a member of the FIA
• Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate, an alternate name for sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, a kind of surfactant widely used in detergents and other cleaning products
• Low affinity site, a region of DNA to which RNA polymerase binds to when not in use
• Lucasfilm Animation Singapore, a Lucasfilm studio dedicated to the Clone Wars TV 3D series, movie effects and video games
• Lahore American School, a high school in Pakistan

Las may refer to:

• Las, a character in Greek mythology, killed by Patroclus
• Las, Lublin Voivodeship, a village in eastern Poland
• Las, Silesian Voivodeship, a village in southern Poland
• Las, Gliwice County, a village also in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland
• Łaś, Masovian Voivodeship (east-central Poland)
• Las Khorey, a city in northern Somalia
• The La's, English pop band

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Las Ketchup is a Spanish pop group, founded by flamenco producer, Manuel Ruiz. The group is best known for the 2002 song, "The Ketchup Song" (Aserejé), which sold over 7 million singles.

Career[link]

Las Ketchup was originally discovered by the flamenco producer Manuel “Queco” Ruiz, who signed them to his newly formed independent Córdoba-based label Shaketown Music, which he ran together with Manuel Illán.^[1] They recorded the songs “Asereje” and “Kusha Las Payas" with Ruiz producing, and shopped the demo to a number of large record companies with the intention of securing a distribution deal.^[1] The demo was received by Columbia/Sony A&R Javier Portugués and director Raúl López who, on listening the recordings, stared at each other in delight exclaiming, "Wow, this is fantastic!".^[1] At first the intention was to arrange a distribution deal with Shaketown Music but on hearing the song they realised its international potential and so negotiated for Las Ketchup to sign with Sony.^[1]

In the summer of 2002 they had a major flamenco Europop fusion hit with "Aserejé" (released as "The Ketchup Song" in the UK and other countries), which reached the top of the charts in many countries including Spain, Portugal, Colombia, UK, Italy, Greece, France, Finland, Turkey, Syria, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, Philippines, Switzerland, Germany, Romania, and Australia. However, it failed to hit the Top 40 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Still worldwide, the trio became instant rivals to another Spanish female trio, Lunae, who released their debut single in Europe at the same time in 2003. The title and part of the lyrics were in Spanish. The hit also had an accompanying dance.

The group re-released the Ketchup Song later in the same year, with a new video, as a Christmas song.

The name of the group is a reference to their father Juan Muñoz, a flamenco guitarist known as El Tomate (The Tomato). This also explains why their debut album carried the title Las hijas del Tomate (Daughters of Tomato).

In 2006 they were joined by Rocío, their fourth sister, to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The girls have said themselves that Rocío has always been a member of Las Ketchup, but she wasn't in the photographs, videos or performances because she was pregnant.

The group sold over 12 million copies with the first album, but the second did not achieve the same success.

Recent events[link]

Las Ketchup came back as a 4-girl group, with a new album titled Un Blodymary (Bloody Mary). Their long absence was due to their writing songs for the album and Pilar's pregnancy. The album release was delayed until the beginning of 2006. They planned to release 1 million copies and their producer "Queco", who also produced and wrote their worldwide single "Asereje", indicated that this album retains their original sound.^{[citation needed]} Their first single from the CD was also titled "Un Blodymary". This song was the Spanish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The song did not perform as well as expected, ending 21st with only 18 points.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Hijas del Tomate (2002)
• Un Blodymary (2006)

Singles[link]

Awards[link]

• 2002 'Ondas awards'

– Best New Artist/group

• 2004 Billboard Latinos awards

– Best pop album from new generation ("Las hijas del Tomate")

– Most tropical-salsa song played by Duo or Group ("The Ketchup Song" (Aserejé)

• 2003 Latin Grammy Award

– Best Pop Album By a Duo or Group with Vocals Las hijas del Tomate (Nominated, lost to Bacilos Caraluna.)

• 2003 Record Fair MIDEM (Cannes)

– Best New Artist/group

• 2003 Amigo Awards

– Best New Group

– Best New Artist

• 2004 Record fair MIDEM (Cannes)

– Breakers of borders (Best-selling Album out of its country and inside of Europe with "Las hijas del Tomate") Song)

Parody[link]

In 2002, the German comedian Elmar Brandt wrote (using the tune of Aserejé) a Gerhard Schröder parody called "Der Steuersong" (The Tax Song)^[18] for the radio program The Gerd Show.

In 2002, a satirical version to the tune of Aserejé by El Groupo Mayonessa circulated in Gibraltar prior to the referendum on a proposal of joint sovereignty, entitled 'Vota Que No, Que No, Que No No No'^[19]

See also[link]

• Son de Sol

References[link]

External links[link]

• Unofficial Las Ketchup Site
• Las Ketchup at AskMen.com
• Las Ketchup at Answers.com

Prince Royce
Background information
Birth name	Geoffrey Royce Rojas
Born	New York City, New York, United States
Genres	Latin pop, bachata, R&B
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, record producer, musician
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Top Stop, Atlantic
Associated acts	Sergio George
Website	www.princeroyce.com

Geoffrey Royce Rojas (born May 11, 1989), known professionally as Prince Royce, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer from New York City, New York. At an early age, Royce took an interest in music and into his teenage years, began experimenting with music and writing poetry. By age nineteen, Royce met Andrés Hidalgo, who became his manager. Hidalgo later introduced Royce to Sergio George, who immediately signed him to his label after hearing three of his demos.

In March 2010, he released his eponymous debut studio album, which generated two commercially successful singles, "Stand by Me" and "Corazón Sin Cara". Both songs reached number-one on the Billboard Tropical Songs chart while "Corazón Sin Cara" reached number-one the US Hot Latin Songs chart. The album, itself, was a commercial success, reaching number-one on the US Billboard Latin Albums and Tropical Albums charts. The album earned Royce three awards at the Premio Lo Nuestro Awards, including Tropical Male Artist of the Year. He also received three more at the Billboard Latin Music Awards in 2011, which included Tropical Album of the Year for Prince Royce.

Life and career[link]

1989–2009: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Geoffrey Royce Rojas was born on May 11, 1989 and raised in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York.^[1] He is the second oldest out four children, born to a Dominican father, who was a taxi-cab driver, and a Dominican mother, who worked at a beauty salon. ^[2] When he was young, he participated in choir in elementary school, competed in talent shows and, at the age of thirteen, began writing poetry which turned into songwriting. Recalling his first time performing before a crowd, he said, "Elementary school, I was singing a Christmas song. I felt really comfortable on stage."^[3] At age fifteen, Royce had began making music and at age nineteen, met Andrés Hidalgo, who became his manager.^[3][4] Hidalgo began helping Royce work hands-on with bachata music. That was the specific moment in which Royce had decided that pursuing a musical career is what he wanted to do.^[3] Hidalgo later introduced Royce to Sergio George, who immediately signed the former to his label, Top Stop Music, after listening to three of his demos.^[2]

2010 Eponymous Debut Album[link]

Royce released his eponymous debut studio album on March 2, 2010.^[5] The album was produced primarily by Hidalgo and Sergio George, with co-production duties by Royce.^[6] Carlos Quintana, of About.com, described the album's musical production as "Bachata with R&B and Pop sounds", while AllMusic's Jason Birchmeier credited Hidalgo for the "crisp production job, which is often spare but adds touches of urban beats here and there."^[7][8] Shortly after its release, it debuted on the Billboard Latin Albums chart at number fifteen.^[9] The lead single from the album, "Stand by Me", a remake of Ben E. King's 1961 song, peaked at number one on the US Billboard Tropical Songs chart, and also reached number eight on the Hot Latin Songs chart.^[10][11] The album's second single, "Corazón Sin Cara", was released in mid-February 2010 and peaked at number one on both the US Hot Latin Songs and Tropical Songs charts.^[12] The album itself had eventually reached number one on the US Billboard Latin Albums chart and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[9] In December 2010, Royce recorded a song with Sergio George called "El Campo de Sueños", which is used as the theme song for Domingo de Grandes Ligas on ESPN.^[13]

The album had earned Royce a nomination for Best Contemporary Tropical Album at the 2010 Latin Grammy Awards.^[14] Later that night, Royce performed the song "Stand by Me" alongside Ben E. King.^[15] At the 2011 Premio Lo Nuestro Awards, Royce had won three awards in the Tropical genre, including Male Artist of the Year, New Soloist or Group of the Year and Song of the Year for "Stand by Me".^[16] Royce was also nominated for 6 awards at the 2011 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Ultimately, he had won three of them, which were Tropical Airplay Solo Artist of the Year, Tropical Album of the Year for Prince Royce, and Tropicals Albums Solo Artist of the Year.^[17][18] Royce had collaborated with Daddy Yankee on a song entitled, "Ven Conmigo", which will be included on the latter's album, Prestige.^[19] In May 2011, Royce signed on with Atlantic Records to released English-language albums. It is a joint partnership between Sergio George's Top Stop label and Atlantic. Royce is currently working on his second studio album, in which Mike Caren, Executive Vice President of A&R for Atlantic, said will be mostly in English with Latin music influences.^[20] It was announced by Enrique Iglesias that he will be touring with Royce and Pitbull as special guests during a leg which began in mid-September 2011.^[21]

2012 Phase II Album[link]

On April 10, 2012, Prince Royce released his second studio album titled Phase II.^[22] The 13-track album incorporates a variety of music styles from Bachata to Mariachi.^[23] The album contains songs in both English and Spanish, as well as melodies atypical to traditional Bachata music.^[24] Driven by the popularity of its lead single Las Cosas Pequeñas, Phase II became the number one selling Latin album on iTunes. Las Cosas Pequeñas debuted at #1 on Billboard's Tropical chart, and eventually reached the #1 position on Billboard's Latin Songs chart.^[25]

The week of Phase II's release, Prince Royce attended four autograph signing events in the United States. His appearance at a Chicago, Illinois location of F.Y.E. broke an attendance record for most visitors to an in-store music event.^[25]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name

Featured singles[link]

Music videos[link]

Guest appearances[link]

Awards and Nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Prince Royce on Twitter

The Edge
Background information
Birth name	David Howell Evans
Born	(1961-08-08) 8 August 1961 (age 50) Barking, Essex, England, United Kingdom
Origin	County Dublin, Ireland
Genres	Rock, post-punk, alternative rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, activist
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, keyboards, piano, bass guitar
Years active	1976–present
Labels	Island, Mercury
Associated acts	U2, Passengers
Website	www.u2.com
Notable instruments
Gibson Explorer Fender Stratocaster Gibson Les Paul Fender Telecaster Gretsch Country Gentleman Gretsch White Falcon Rickenbacker 330/12

David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), more widely known by his stage name The Edge (or just Edge),^[1] is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record. As a guitarist, The Edge has crafted a minimalistic and textural style of playing. His use of a rhythmic delay effect yields a distinctive ambient, chiming sound that has become a signature of U2's music.

The Edge was born in England to a Welsh family, but was raised in Ireland after moving there as an infant. In 1976, at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, he formed U2 with his fellow students and his older brother Dik. Inspired by the ethos of punk rock and its basic arrangements, the group began to write its own material. They eventually became one of the most popular acts in popular music, with successful albums such as 1987's The Joshua Tree and 1991's Achtung Baby. Over the years, The Edge has experimented with various guitar effects and introduced influences from several genres of music into his own style, including American roots music, industrial music, and alternative rock. With U2, The Edge has also played keyboards, co-produced their 1993 record Zooropa, and occasionally contributed lyrics. The Edge met his second and current wife, Morleigh Steinberg, through her collaborations with the band.

As a member of U2 and as an individual, The Edge has campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes. He co-founded Music Rising, a charity to support musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina. He has collaborated with U2 bandmate Bono on several projects, including songs for Roy Orbison and Tina Turner, and the soundtracks to the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and the Royal Shakespeare Company's London stage adaptation of A Clockwork Orange. In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine placed him at number 38 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Personal life[link]

The Edge at a U2 concert in Anaheim (2005)

David Howell Evans was born at the Barking Maternity Hospital,^[2] Essex, England to Welsh parents Garvin and Gwenda Evans.^[1] When he was one, his family moved to County Dublin, Ireland where he attended St Andrew's National School. He received piano and guitar lessons and often performed with his brother Dik Evans before they both answered an advertisement posted by Larry Mullen, Jr. at their school, Mount Temple Comprehensive School, seeking musicians to form a band.^[3] The band accepted both of them. This band went through several incarnations before emerging as U2 in March 1978 (Dik Evans left the band just before the name change).^[3] U2 began performing in various venues in Ireland and eventually began developing a following. Their debut album, Boy, was released in 1980.

In 1981, leading up to the October tour, Evans came very close to leaving U2 for religious reasons, but he decided to stay.^[3] During this period, he became involved with a group called Shalom Tigers, in which bandmates Bono and Larry Mullen Jr. were also involved.^[4] Shortly after deciding to remain with the band, he wrote a piece of music that later became "Sunday Bloody Sunday".^[3] The Edge married his high school girlfriend Aislinn O'Sullivan on 12 July 1983.^[5] The couple had three daughters together: Hollie in 1984, Arran in 1985 and Blue Angel in 1989.^[4] The couple separated in 1990, but were unable to get officially divorced because of Irish laws regarding marriage annulment; divorce was legalised in 1995 and the couple were legally divorced in 1996.^[4]

In 1993, The Edge began dating Morleigh Steinberg, a professional dancer and choreographer employed by the band as a belly dancer during the Zoo TV Tour. They had a daughter, Sian (born 1997), and a son, Levi (born 25 October 1999),^[4] before marrying on 22 June 2002.^[4] He appeared in the 2009 music documentary film It Might Get Loud.^[6] The Edge has been criticized for his efforts to build five luxury mansions on a 156 acre plot of land in Malibu, California.^[7] The California Coastal Commission voted 8-4 against the plans, with the project described by the commission's executive director, Peter Douglas, as "In 38 years...one of the three worst projects that I've seen in terms of environmental devastation...It's a contradiction in terms – you can't be serious about being an environmentalist and pick this location."^[7] The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy agreed to remain neutral on the issue following a $1 million donation from The Edge and a commitment from The Edge to designate 100 acres of the land as open space for public footpaths.^[7]

Music style[link]

Guitar playing[link]

As a guitar player, The Edge has a sound typified by a low-key playing style, a chiming, shimmering sound (thanks in part to the sound of VOX AC-30s) that he achieves with extensive use of delay effects and reverb. The feedback delay is often set to a dotted eighth note (3/16 of a measure), and the feedback gain is adjusted until a note played repeats two or three times.^{[citation needed]}

On 1987's The Joshua Tree, The Edge often contributes just a few simple lead lines given depth and richness by an ever-present delay. For example, the introduction to "Where the Streets Have No Name" is simply a repeated six-note arpeggio, broadened by a modulated delay effect. The Edge has said that he views musical notes as "expensive", in that he prefers to play as few notes as possible. He said in 1982 of his style,

"I like a nice ringing sound on guitar, and most of my chords I find two strings and make them ring the same note, so it's almost like a 12-string sound. So for E I might play a B, E, E and B and make it ring. It works very well with the Gibson Explorer. It's funny because the bass end of the Explorer was so awful that I used to stay away from the low strings, and a lot of the chords I played were very trebly, on the first four, or even three strings. I discovered that through using this one area of the fretboard I was developing a very stylized way of doing something that someone else would play in a normal way."^[9]

Many different influences have shaped The Edge's guitar technique.^{[citation needed]} His first guitar was an old acoustic guitar that his mother bought him at a local flea market for only a few pounds; he was nine at the time. He and his brother Dik Evans both experimented with this instrument.^[9] He said in 1982 of this early experimentation, "I suppose the first link in the chain was a visit to the local jumble sale where I purchased a guitar for a pound. That was my first instrument. It was an acoustic guitar and me and my elder brother Dik both played it, plonking away, all very rudimentary stuff, open chords and all that."^[9] The Edge has stated that many of his guitar parts are based around guitar effects. This is especially true from the Achtung Baby era onwards, although much of the band's 1980s material made heavy use of echos.

Vocals[link]

The Edge in June 2005

The Edge also supplies the backing vocals for U2. U2's 1983 live album and video release, Under a Blood Red Sky and Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky are good reference points for his singing (as are the live DVDs from the Elevation Tour, U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle and Elevation 2001: Live from Boston). For example, he sings the chorus to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (Bono harmonizes on the final 'Sunday'). U2 used this tradeoff technique later in "Bullet the Blue Sky" as well. His backing vocals are sometimes in the form of a repeated cry; examples of songs that use this approach include "Beautiful Day", "New Year's Day" and "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)". Another technique he uses in his backing vocals is the falsetto, in songs such as "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of", "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own", "A Man and a Woman", "The Wanderer", live versions of "The Fly", and "Window in the Skies".

The Edge sings the lead vocal on "Van Diemen's Land" and "Numb", the first half of the song "Seconds", dual vocals with Bono in "Discotheque", and the bridge in the song "Miracle Drug".^[4] He also sings the occasional lead vocal in live renditions of other songs (such as "Sunday Bloody Sunday" during the PopMart Tour and "Party Girl" during the Rotterdam Zoo TV show when it was Bono's birthday).^[10] He also plays a solo acoustic version of the song "Love is Blindness" that is featured in the documentary film From the Sky Down.

Other instruments[link]

He has played piano and keyboards on many of the band's songs, including "I Fall Down", "October", "So Cruel", "New Year's Day", "Running to Stand Still", "Miss Sarajevo", "The Hands that Built America", and "Original of the Species" and others. He plays the organ on "Please". In live versions of "New Year's Day", "The Unforgettable Fire", "Your Blue Room", and "Moment of Surrender", he plays both the piano and guitar parts alternately. In most live versions of "Original of the Species," piano is the only instrument played during the song. Although The Edge is the band's lead guitarist, he occasionally plays bass guitar, including the live performances of the song "40" where The Edge and bassist Adam Clayton switch instruments.

Solo recordings[link]

In addition to his regular role within U2, The Edge has also recorded with such artists as Johnny Cash, B. B. King, Tina Turner, Ronnie Wood, Jay-Z, and Rihanna. The Edge connected with Brian Eno and Lanois collaborator Michael Brook (the creator of the infinite guitar, which he regularly uses), working with him on the score to the film Captive (1986). From this soundtrack the song "Heroine", the vocal of which was sung by a young Sinéad O'Connor was released as a single.

He also created the theme song for season one and two of The Batman. He and fellow U2 member, Bono, wrote the lyrics to the theme of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye. The Edge, along with bandmate Bono, recently composed a musical adaptation of Spider-Man. On May 25, 2011, a single titled Rise Above 1: Reeve Carney Featuring Bono and The Edge was released digitally.^[11] The music video was released on July 28, 2011.^[12]

Musical equipment[link]

Edge's 1964 Vox AC30 on stage in Foxborough for the U2 360° Tour.

The Edge plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, piano, bass guitar (on "40" and "Race Against Time") and lap steel guitar. Compared to many lead guitarists, The Edge is known for using many more guitars during a show. According to his guitar tech Dallas Schoo, a typical lead guitarist uses four or five different guitars in one night, whereas The Edge takes 45 on the road, and uses 17 to 19 in one 2.5-hour concert. He is estimated to have more than 200 guitars in the studio.^{[citation needed]}

Philanthropy[link]

In 2005, The Edge along with Bob Ezrin and Henry Juszkiewicz co-founded Music Rising, a charity that helped provide replacement instruments for those that were lost in Hurricane Katrina. The instruments were originally only replaced for professional musicians but they soon realized the community churches and schools needed instruments as well. The charity's slogan is "Rebuilding the Gulf Region note by note" and has so far helped over a hundred musicians who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. The Edge also serves on the board of the Angiogenesis Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving global health by advancing angiogenesis-based medicine, diets, and lifestyle.^[13]

See also[link]

• Timeline of U2
• List of people on stamps of Ireland

References[link]

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (October 2011)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Edge

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Edge

• U2.com, official U2 site
• Music Rising
• The Edge at the Internet Movie Database
• The Edge – Album Credits
• A Study of The Edge's Guitar Delay
• The Edge: 'It's all about the vision'
• Food Bank For New York City public service announcement
• Comment on the mathematical analysis of The Edge's guitar sound