Mutable, mysterious, yet expressive and singularly
open to experience, Beto Cuevas is an extraordinary
artist whose energy and intelligence infuse all that
he does – as musician/singer/songwriter frontman for
La Ley, as a solo artist, as a collaborator, as a
visual artist and most recently as an actor on the
silver screen. And as Beto himself would tell you,
this journey is nowhere near the end.
But every journey has a beginning, and for Luis
Alberto Cuevas Olmedo this one began on September 12,
1967 in Santiago de Chile. His family emigrated to
Venezuela when he was just 3, his first step toward
becoming the citizen of the world he now considers
himself to be. Living in Caracas he enjoyed a fairly
typical childhood that gave little indication of his
future ambitions (though he admits that an early
film going experience with his father – to see “The
Man With the Golden Gun” -- fostered his first vivid
interest in acting.
Within 7 years the family moved again, this time
much farther north, to Montreal, Canada, where Beto
spent the pivotal formative years of his life as a
creative artist and performer.
In Montreal, he studied graphic design and co-
wrote and acted in his first theatrical production –
an ambitious play relating the history of the world!
As a teenager he cut his musical teeth on the new
wave of New Romantic bands of the ‘80s, adding their
influence to that of the early rock-‘n-roll from his
childhood. At this point, however, his singing was
largely confined to his shower! He also became fully
tri-lingual, adding fluent French and English to his
repertoire of languages.
Never yet dreaming he would end up a singer, at
age 21 he felt the need to reconnect with his
homeland and left Montreal to spend some time in
Chile. It was there, in a Santiago karaoke bar, that
the public first heard Beto's remarkable voice
(channeling Elvis). Members of local band La Ley,
looking for a new singer, soon followed suit. The
rest, as they say, is history...
Beto made his singing debut with La Ley’s first
full-length album “Desiertos”, quickly followed by
their first major label release “Doble Opuesto”,
which featured an English-language single – a cover
of the Rolling Stones’ “Angie”. That single and its
accompanying video propelled the band to almost
instant fame throughout Latin America.
From 1988 to 2005, Beto and La Ley followed a
nearly unparalleled trajectory of success.
Indefatigable world travelers, they found
enthusiastic fans all over the planet – from Japan to
Australia, to France and Spain, the U.S. and Canada,
and of course Latin America. Along the way they
garnered several Grammy awards (and many more
nominations), various gold and platinum records and
other impressive accolades. With a voice of
exceptional strength and beauty, Beto was renowned
worldwide as a charismatic rock star – an exciting
kinetic performer who conveys an inner intensity of
vision and purpose in every song, every look, every
move, connecting body, mind, heart and soul with his
audience. He became equally famous for his talent at
crafting moving power pop/rock songs with lyrics that
are at once vivid, mystical, poetic, philosophical
and romantic, on topics ranging from the sacred to
the profane and everywhere in-between.
La Ley’s MTV Unplugged in 2001 was a milestone
achievement that cemented them once and for all in
their status as Latin America’s premier musical
export. During this time Beto served not just as La
Ley’s lead singer and songwriter; he also composed
songs for major film soundtracks (“Everytime” for
Crazy/Beautiful, “Estrellas Que Me Dan Vida” for El
Planeta del Tesoro (Disney’s Treasure Planet), and
most recently, the moving Grammy-nominated
ballad “Bienvenido al Anochecer”, for Siete Dias).
Over the years, he has also collaborated with many
other international artists including Mikel Erentxun,
Los Prisioneros and Masters At Work.
In 2005 La Ley declared a formal hiatus, for
each member to explore other creative avenues. For
Beto, this has meant a time to not only launch a solo
career as a musician, but to finally follow his
lifelong yearning to work as a film actor. Since the
beginning of 2005, he has appeared in 3 films:
playing a cameo role in Siete Dias, an Opus Dei
priest in La Mujer de mi Hermano, and in his first
English language role, a satanic drug cult leader in
Zev Berman’s upcoming Borderland. As of March 2006 he
is filming Una Vez Mas, his first starring role,
portraying a philosophy professor who according to
Beto is “on the verge of finding a whole new meaning
to the word love”.
While continuing to pursue his acting career
with the passion he always brings to his work, Beto
is also writing songs for his first solo album, due
to begin recording at the end of 2006.
The journey continues. . .stay tuned!
Biography written by Susan Enterline
