Visalia Fox Theatre
Jose Feliciano
December 9th, 2023
Show: 7:30 PM – Doors: 6:30 PM

One of the most prominent Latin-born performers, guitarist, singer, and composer José Feliciano found mainstream in the 60’s with his mix of flamenco guitar, folk, and pop music. Jose is well-known for his 1968 rendition of The Doors, “Light My Fire.”  It was in 1969 that Jose found great fame with his rendition of “Feliz Navidad.” He toured heavily in the 70’s and 80’s and remained a popular touring recording artist.  He released a variety of both Spanish and English language albums, with album guests such as John Lennon, John Mitchell, and Bill Withers.  Jose used to compose music for shows like, “Chico and the Man” & “Kung Fu.”

In the 80’s Feliciano was the first artist to be signed to the Latin division of Motown.  His recorded output tapered off during the course of the decade, although he occasionally resurfaced with LPs including 1987’s Tu Inmenso Amor and 1989’s I’m Never Gonna Change.  A school in East Harlem was renamed the Jose Feliciano Performing Arts School in his honor. In 1996, he also appeared briefly in the hit film Fargo and in 2000 received the Grammy Legend Award. A handful of Spanish-language albums appeared in the early part of the decade and in 2006, Feliciano returned with the instrumental Six-String Lady album, kicking off a historic run that saw a steady stream of releases well into the 2010’s. His highest-profile project during this period was a 2017 duet album with Jools Holland called As You See Me Now. Heading into the next decade, Feliciano reunited with longtime producer Rick Jarrard for 2020’s Behind This Guitar, his first album to be recorded in Nashville. The album shared its title with a documentary about Feliciano, which began playing the film festival circuit in 2020. In 2022, Feliciano received the Legend Award at the Billboard Latin Music Awards; he was the first artist to receive the honor. It was a busy year that saw two releases from the veteran artist. Right Here Waiting was a set of classic tunes that included new recordings of “Light My Fire” and the theme from Chico and the Man. Later in the year, he issued Love & Christmas, a seven-song EP that included a pair of holiday songs (“Viva La Navidad” and “Little Drummer Boy”) as well as a Latin-flavored cover of Jimi Hendrix‘s “Purple Haze” and a Spanish-language version of Michael Jackson‘s “Human Nature.”