Paco Ibañez was born in Valencia in 1934. In 1939 his Republican parents became exiles in France.

In Paris, at the beginning of the fifties, he discovered music by Brassens, Yupanqui, Léo Ferré, as well as the existentialist movement.

In 1956, the photo of an Andalusia woman dressed in black inspired Ibañez to write his first song based on the poem “La más bella niña” (The most beautiful girl), by Luis de Góngora. Transformed into a song, this poem opened doors to a new world and poems by Góngora in 1958 were followed by more poems by García Lorca. All of this poetry formed part of his first recording, made in Paris in 1964. From the moment it was released, this album was revered as a classic and used as teaching material by Spanish literature and language teachers as well as by defenders of freedom (both Spanish and French), as a symbol of cultural resistance. The album cover features a drawing by Salvador Dali, designed especially for the occasion.

As a result of this project, the artist’s work became closely linked to fine art. During the course of his professional career, the record covers, posters and projects were all designed by artist friends, painters and sculptors, such as Dali, Ortega, Saura, Manessier, Corneille, Oteiza, Guinovart, Soto and Amat.

Paco Ibañez had found his own path. From that time onwards, until today, he has interpreted more than one hundred and fifty poems and set them to music, creating one of the most beautiful poetry anthologies in the Spanish language since the 13th century until the present moment.

He has also performed concerts worldwide throughout his whole musical career. “A galopar” (Gallop) alongside Rafael Alberti and “La voz y la palabra” (The voice and the word) with José Agustín Goytisolo were two unforgettable performances.

On April 23rd 2007, a great concert was broadcast at the Gran Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona, “Nos queda la palabra” (We still have words), to the whole world via Internet (to more than nine hundred universities, Cervantes Institutes, secondary schools, U.G.T, European unions...) and was watched by over one million people worldwide. The concert was the focal point of a wide-ranging day of cultural activities (debates, open day, forum) based on the Poetic Anthology of Castilian Spanish-Latin American Language from the 13th century until today, set to music and sung by the artist. Writers and artists such as Saramago, Sampedro, Sábato, García Márquez, M. Vicent, F. Amat, Guinovart, Viladecans participated. Universities present included: Seville, Autónoma de Madrid, Toulouse, Montpellier, La Sorbona (Paris), Taipei National.

Paco Ibañez is currently working on new arrangements and playing concerts worldwide.