Biography:

Jorge María Martínez García ( Avilés , May 1, 1955 – Oviedo , December 9, 2025), [ 1 ] better known as Jorge Ilegal , was a Spanish musician, composer, and singer , leader of the rock group Ilegales , considered one of the most influential bands in Spanish rock. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ]

Path

He was born in Avilés in 1955. A descendant of the Spanish military officer and naval officer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés , his family, whose properties include the Bolgues Palace in Las Regueras , held the title of Count of Canalejas . [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] In his early career, he played in popular music orchestras , such as Manolo Carrizo y su Conjunto, in local venues, dances, and some patron saint festivals . [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ] In 1976, he obtained the professional musician’s license issued by the National Syndicate of Entertainment during the Franco regime . [ 7 ] [ 11 ] He began studying Law at the University of Oviedo , but abandoned his studies before finishing, at the age of 21, to dedicate himself to music. [ 7 ] [ 12 ] [ 13 ]

He was part of the rock band Madson, formed in the 1970s  , in which his brother, Juan Martínez, also played. [ 8 ] [ 14 ] Later, he was in another group, Los Metálicos. [ 15 ] In 1982, he founded the rock group Ilegales, under which he is known as Jorge Ilegal, and with which he has released more than a dozen albums and performed in countries all over the world. [ 7 ] [ 16 ] [ 17 ] In 1985, Martínez became a producer with the record label Discóbolo Records, under which he produced Ilegales albums such as Todos están muertos (Everyone is Dead ). [ 18 ] [ 19 ]

In 2011, after the dissolution of Ilegales, Martínez founded the group Jorge Ilegal y los Magníficos, with which he performed other musical styles such as boleros , joropos , cha-cha-cha , tangos , guarachas , ballads and twist , following the essence of the orchestras of the 1940s and  50s . [ 20 ] [ 21 ] [ 22 ] [ 23 ]

Later, Martínez founded another record label, La Casa del Misterio, which, in addition to producing the works of his bands Ilegales and Jorge Ilegal y los Magníficos, also produced music for other rock artists such as Gestido, Fe de Ratas , and UHP. [ 24 ] A collector of guitars and other instruments, in 2013 an exclusive exhibition was held in Gijón showcasing pieces from his musical collection. [ 25 ]

Jorge Ilegal is considered a leading figure in the Spanish music scene since the 1980s, influencing musicians and artists in both Spain and Latin America . [ 26 ] Throughout his career, he collaborated with other groups and artists, such as Los Enemigos on their album Obras escocidas , where he performed the song John Wayne . [ 27 ] In addition, in 2019 he was one of the speakers at the Leonard Cohen Chair at the University of Oviedo, with the presentation Manual para cazar canciones (Manual for Hunting Songs ). [ 12 ] [ 28 ]

In September 2025, he had to cancel the tour promoting his album Joven y arrogante (Young and Arrogant ) after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer . Following a rapid and aggressive illness, he died on December 9, 2025. [ 29 ]

Awards

Throughout their musical career, they received several awards. In 2009, Martínez and Ilegales received an honorary Diamond Disc for selling over 1 million records. [ 30 ] [ 31 ] The following year, they won the honorary award at the AMAS Awards (Asturian Music Yearbook Awards), and in the 2012 edition, they won the Best Song Award and the Best Album Award, “Otras Escenas.” [ 32 ] [ 33 ]

In 2017, Martínez was named Asturian of the Month by La Nueva España . [ 34 ] [ 35 ] That same year, Fernando Fernández-Guerra Fernández, who was the first manager of the group Ilegales, published an unauthorized biography of Jorge Ilegal titled Jorge Ilegal, Apostle of Wild Times . [ 3 ] [ 36 ] [ 37 ] [ 38 ]

The following year, in 2018, the documentary My Life Among the Ants, directed by Chema Veiga and Juan Moya, was released in theaters. It reviewed Martínez’s career and featured appearances by Miguel Ríos , Tomás Fernando Flores , Jesús Ordovás , Diego Alfredo Manrique, and Jaime Urrutia . [ 13 ] [ 39 ] [ 40 ] The documentary was screened in an episode of the La 2 program Imprescindibles . [ 41 ] [ 42 ]

In 2019, another biography of Martínez, this one authorized, was published under the title Jorge Martínez, Illegal Conversations, in which journalist and writer Carlos H. Vázquez conducts a series of conversations with the artist. [ 43 ] [ 44 ] The book also features contributions from Jesús Ordovás , Igor Paskual , ​​Edu Galán , and Andrés Calamaro . [ 45 ] Also in 2019, Martínez was the ambassador for the program A Country to Listen To, dedicated to Asturias and presented by Ariel Rot , in which other Asturian musicians such as Rodrigo Cuevas and Marisa Valle Roso also participated . [ 46 ] [ 47 ]

Credits: