Sep 7, 2026 · 5 min
Juanes traces rock’s path through Medellín to his new album
Testing Juanes' Music Knowledge
Juanes connects Colombian and Latin American traditions with the rock and metal that shaped his identity and career.
- 1Juanes’s musical education began with cumbia, South American folk, and Spanish music before rock and metal transformed his teenage years.
- 2Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Juan Gabriel, and Medellín’s Kraken each represent turning points in Juanes’s musical development.
- 3His upcoming album Juan Esteban brings rock together with cumbia and Central American and Colombian folk influences.
Don't miss
Juanes recalls how seeing Medellín heavy-metal band Kraken perform inspired him to pursue music professionally.
The brief
Jack Coyne tests Juanes’s music knowledge, but the game quickly becomes an autobiography: cumbia, South American folk, and Spanish music give way to teenage rock and metal in Medellín.
Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Yes, and Pink Floyd opened a world beyond language, while Metallica became an intense teenage fixation that helped define Juanes’s musical direction.
Juan Gabriel prompts a discussion of songwriting that crosses generations, then Juanes links those influences to Juan Esteban, an album blending rock, cumbia, and regional folk.
A tango legend, Medellín’s Kraken, Fito Páez, Soda Stereo, Gustavo Cerati, and Juan Luis Guerra fill out the Latin American lineage behind Juanes’s career.
The standout is Kraken’s concert: seeing Medellín’s heavy-metal band convinced Juanes that making music professionally was possible.
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