Carlos Varela (singer songwriter)

Carlos Victoriano Varela Cerezo (born April 11, 1963) is a singer-songwriter of nueva trova from Havana, Cuba. In the 1980s, he joined the Nueva Trova musical movement, a political and poetic musical genre.

Silvio Rodríguez, one of the most famous persons in the world nueva trova founders, "discovered" him and helped the "nomo" [Gnome] (nickname coming from the way he dresses) taking him on a tour to Spain. His first CD "Jalisco Park" was published in Spain. Nowadays Varela's music is known for its open criticism of the status quo, though it is still considered Nueva Trova, which itself began as a reaction to the unjust conditions that led to the Revolution.

The singer-songwriter Jackson Browne translated Carlos Varela's song "Walls and Doors" into English for Browne's 2014 Standing In The Breach recording and tour. Varela's song "Una Palabra" [A Word] was used in the soundtrack of the film Powder Keg (2001) directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu starring Clive Owen and again in the film Man on Fire in 2004 starring Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning. He has integrated his music into the soundtracks of several Cuban films as well, such as Las profecias de Amanda and Video de familia among others.