Raul Midón (born March 14, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from New Mexico, based in New York City. He combines his distinct voice, strumming, beats, and a cappella sounds to create a one-man performance. His unique style shows influence of virtually every musical genre which came before him, including jazz, blues, R&B, and folk.
Midón was born prematurely in a rural hospital in Embudo, New Mexico to parents of Argentine and African American descent. His father was a dancer from Argentina. Midón and his twin brother Marco (now a NASA engineer) were blinded as infants after spending time in an incubator without adequate eye protection. The sounds of music became integral to Midón's life around age 4, when his father introduced him to the drum. Midón became an avid music lover and learned how to play the guitar while performing in rigorous educational programs, first at a school for the blind and then an elite Santa Fe academy while completing his last two years of high school. Midón then attended the University of Miami, which he selected for its prestigious jazz curriculum.
Midón began his career as a backup singer for several well known Top 40 acts, including Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Ricky Martin, Julio Iglesias and Jose Feliciano. Having toured with Shakira, and recorded with Alejandro Sanz in 2002, he set aside this career to pursue a solo career and moved to New York City. While focusing the majority of his time on his solo career, he has also worked with jazz legends Paquito D’Rivera, Dave Valentin, Dave Samuels, Herbie Hancock, and Claudio Roditi.
Soon after the release of his independent album, Midón was signed by Grammy Award-winning producer Arif Mardin (Norah Jones, Aretha Franklin) to Manhattan Records, a subsidiary of Capitol Records owned by EMI. In Mardin's long career, Midón was his first signing of an artist. Mardin, along with his son, Joe, produced the critically acclaimed debut album of Midón entitled State of Mind.
Midón also did the theme song for Spike Lee's 2004 LGBT film, She Hate Me, titled "Adam n' Eve n' Eve".
Midón's album State of Mind was released on May 10th, 2005. The album features a guest performance with Stevie Wonder, one of his idols, and a song written in tribute to Donny Hathaway entitled "Sittin' In The Middle." Midon is an avid amateur radio enthusiast, and in this song he also incorporates his call sign (KB5ZOT) by using Morse code.
Midón's national television debut was on Late Show with David Letterman on June 28, 2005. He later went on to appear on other late night television shows in the U.S. and abroad.
Midón was born prematurely in a rural hospital in Embudo, New Mexico to parents of Argentine and African American descent. His father was a dancer from Argentina. Midón and his twin brother Marco (now a NASA engineer) were blinded as infants after spending time in an incubator without adequate eye protection. The sounds of music became integral to Midón's life around age 4, when his father introduced him to the drum. Midón became an avid music lover and learned how to play the guitar while performing in rigorous educational programs, first at a school for the blind and then an elite Santa Fe academy while completing his last two years of high school. Midón then attended the University of Miami, which he selected for its prestigious jazz curriculum.
Midón began his career as a backup singer for several well known Top 40 acts, including Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Ricky Martin, Julio Iglesias and Jose Feliciano. Having toured with Shakira, and recorded with Alejandro Sanz in 2002, he set aside this career to pursue a solo career and moved to New York City. While focusing the majority of his time on his solo career, he has also worked with jazz legends Paquito D’Rivera, Dave Valentin, Dave Samuels, Herbie Hancock, and Claudio Roditi.
Soon after the release of his independent album, Midón was signed by Grammy Award-winning producer Arif Mardin (Norah Jones, Aretha Franklin) to Manhattan Records, a subsidiary of Capitol Records owned by EMI. In Mardin's long career, Midón was his first signing of an artist. Mardin, along with his son, Joe, produced the critically acclaimed debut album of Midón entitled State of Mind.
Midón also did the theme song for Spike Lee's 2004 LGBT film, She Hate Me, titled "Adam n' Eve n' Eve".
Midón's album State of Mind was released on May 10th, 2005. The album features a guest performance with Stevie Wonder, one of his idols, and a song written in tribute to Donny Hathaway entitled "Sittin' In The Middle." Midon is an avid amateur radio enthusiast, and in this song he also incorporates his call sign (KB5ZOT) by using Morse code.
Midón's national television debut was on Late Show with David Letterman on June 28, 2005. He later went on to appear on other late night television shows in the U.S. and abroad.
