Jorge Drexler

Jorge Abner Drexler Prada (born September 21, 1964) is a Uruguayan singer-songwriter, musician, and actor renowned for his poetic, introspective songwriting that fuses Latin American folk traditions like milonga and candombe with bossa nova, classical influences, and electronic elements.

Born in Montevideo to a German-Jewish immigrant father who fled Nazi persecution and a Uruguayan mother, Drexler initially pursued a career in medicine, earning a medical degree and practicing as an otolaryngologist before dedicating himself fully to music at age 30.

Jorge Abner Drexler Prada was born on September 21, 1964, in Montevideo, Uruguay, into a middle-class family shaped by immigration and cultural duality. His father, a German Ashkenazi Jewish doctor, fled Nazi persecution in 1939 at the age of four with his family, first seeking refuge in Bolivia before settling in Uruguay, where he established a medical practice. His mother, a Uruguayan of Christian background with French, Portuguese, and Spanish ancestry, converted to Judaism upon their marriage, fostering a household where Drexler was raised in the Jewish faith while embracing a blend of heritages. This mixed identity, reflecting both Ashkenazi roots from Germany, Poland, and Ukraine on his paternal side and Latin American influences maternally, profoundly influenced his sense of self amid Uruguay's diverse society.