Colombian singer-songwriter Juanes celebrated his 50th birthday this August 9 with a biography that documents his beginnings, his essence, his success and the grayest days during his musical career.

"1,577,836,800 seconds of life captured in a book that tells great stories with friends, colleagues and family, compiled and written in this text by my dear @elfanfatal," mentioned the Colombian on his social networks on his special day.

Diego Londoño, book editor, said that "this book is for the reader to get closer to his humanity, to his pores, to his way of breathing, to his way of understanding life, of clinging to his past and thinking about the present, for his way of loving music, of perceiving politics, religion, family and to live closely, through the stories, that smile that shoots when something makes him happy".

This story gathers the anecdotes of "the giant boy from Medellín" who turned his songs into hymns with his band Ekhymosis, the one who made the black shirt fashionable and reached his peak by returning to his origins. 

Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez, better known only as Juanes, was born in 1972 in Medellín. The Latin rock icon has sold more than 20 million records and accumulated 26 Latin Grammys and three Grammys. 

His most recent studio album, "Origen", has twelve covers of the songs that marked his life. Nuestro Juramento, by Julio Jaramillo; Volver, by Carlos Gardel; Rebelión, by Joe Arroyo; Todo Hombre es una Historia, by Kraken, among others.

This album is a recount of his musical memory, "a trip to childhood, to remember each song, the time at home singing with my dad and my brothers", mentioned the artist in an interview with the local newspaper EL COLOMBIANO, "it is like going back to downtown Medellín with the music I listened to at that time".