The Gipsy Kings

Over the years the Gipsy Kings-whose members hail from the gypsy settlements in Arles and Montpelier in the south of France-have included singers and guitarists from the Reyes (Canut, Nicholas, Pablo, and Patchai) and Baliardo families (Diego, Paco, and Tonino). Lead singer Nicholas Reyes is the son of famed Flamenco singer José Reyes, who, with Manitas de Plata, sold millions of records in the 1960s and '70s. The band's vigorous guitar work and passionate vocals are the trademarks of an indigenous musical tradition known as "rumba flamenco."There are no other examples of a non-English speaking band (the group's language is the Gypsy dialect of gitane) with such a consistent winning streak in the United States, where the group is the biggest-selling French act ever. Since the 1987 release of the international hit single "Bamboleo," from their platinum-selling eponymous debut album, the Gipsy Kings have dominated the world music charts and sold more than 14 million albums worldwide-more than four million in the United States alone. Their platinum compilation, The Best of the Gipsy Kings, was on the charts for more than a year.Two PBS specials have contributed to the Gipsy Kings' ongoing success story. The documentary Tierra Gitana, which aired on hundreds of public television stations in the United States in 1996, explores the band's roots in Gypsy culture and the members' rich family heritage in flamenco music. Filmed in concert and in the Gypsy camps of Arles, Tierra Gitana provides a glimpse at the vanishing lifestyle of a vibrant traditional people. A second program, filmed in performance at Washington, DC's Wolf Trap, captures the excitement of the band's live show in a 60-minute special.