Colombian singer Juanes kicks off American tour in Seattle; visits with eighth graders

Seattle, WA, United States (CNS) – With the success of his fifth studio album “P.A.R.C.E.,” Colombian singer Juanes is getting ready kick off his tour in Seattle. But the singer took a break from rehearsals to meet with eighth graders.

The 18-time Grammy-winner surprised students and teachers at Washington Middle School on Thursday.

“We spent a while at Washington Middle School in Seattle, singing “Suenos” and “Damelo” in eighth grade Spanish class!”, Juanes posted in Spanish on Twitter.

Soon after, the singer posted another tweet saying, “They were young children from all race, American, Asian, Latins, Hispanics, Hindus speaking Spanish! Singing in Spanish!”

The 38-year-old singer, whose real name is Juan Esteban Aristizabal Vasquez, will perform in Las Vegas, Denver, Albuquerque, Illinois, New York City and Miami, before wrapping up in Orlando, Fla. on Oct. 16.

Juanes was originally set to perform in Miami on April 15, but postponed his concert for a later date.

A Miami newspaper had suggested that the reason for the postponement was because the singer had received negative feedback about the selection of the date, which it falls on the 50th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Juanes later denied the claims.

The date is significant to South Florida’s Cuban community, which is when Cuban exiles launched an attempt to overthrow the island nation’s ruler, Fidel Castro, in 1961.

The effort led to the death of more than 100 exiles and more than 1,000 were imprisoned. Many of them were executed by the Cuban government.

In 2009, Juanes sparked furor among Miami’s exile community when the singer hosted a free concert in Havana called Peace Without Borders.

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