Soda Stereo

Soda Stereo was an Argentine rock band created in Buenos Aires in 1982 by the power trio made up of Gustavo Cerati (lead vocals, guitars), Héctor "Zeta" Bosio (bass), and Charly Alberti (drums). They are considered one of the most influential and important Latin American bands of all time and a legend of Latin music. It achieved international success throughout the 1980s and 1990s, playing a pivotal role in the surfacing, development and dissemination of Latin and Ibero-American rock outside Argentina. They were the first Latin rock group to achieve success throughout Hispanic America.Soda was part of a renewal in Argentina's rock scene, coinciding with the return of democracy at the beginning of the 80s with its attending optimism and the birth of other history-making acts like Virus, Zas, Sumo, Los Abuelos de la Nada, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Los Enanitos Verdes, etc. Soda's early sound was influenced by new wave bands such as the said Virus, the Police, Elvis Costello and post-punk bands such as Television (this influence particularly demonstrated in Soda's early works, e.g. Soda Stereo (1984), Nada Personal (1985), Signos (1986), and Doble Vida (1988)). The band gradually evolved into a heavier sounding alternative rock band, eventually drawing influences from classic rock, progressive rock, shoegaze, neo-psychedelia, britpop, and electronic music, particularly with the albums Canción Animal (1990), Dynamo (1992), and Sueño Stereo (1995). Soda Stereo has topped the all-time lists in their native Argentina, becoming one of the best-selling Argentinian bands of all time and setting landmarks in record sales and concert attendances. Throughout their 15-year career, the band sold over 17 million albums in Latin America alone – this number has since continued to rise following the separation of the band.After the band's separation, all three of its members found separate endeavours – Gustavo Cerati continued a successful solo career after the band's split, releasing four studio albums (most of which achieved Platinum and Gold status in Argentina; see his discography for more information), while Zeta Bosio worked for a time as bassist for several underground groups and is now touring as a DJ; Charly Alberti has also found moderate success, both with the foundation of his CybeRelations company, and his family band MOLE. In 2010, Gustavo Cerati suffered a massive stroke while on tour for his Fuerza natural album and fell into a coma, ultimately dying on 4 September 2014, thus sealing the official end for the band, whose status as one of the best (if not the best of all) rock bands of Argentina has grown even more steadily since its demise.