Amidst the debate about whether or not to claim the legacy of La Oreja de Van Gogh, with voices defending the quality of their melodies, and voices questioning whether a group that has sold tens of millions of copies of their albums deserves any kind of vindication, their vocalist, Leire Martínez, seems to have remained oblivious to it all, perhaps because the conversation has revolved mainly around Amaia Montero’s work in the group. After, in addition, her reappearance at a Karol G concert in Madrid, with ‘Rosas’ suddenly positioned globally on Spotify.
But Leire Martínez has not lived in a cave in recent months, during which a rumour has even been spread about a supposed reunion between Amaia and La Oreja de Van Gogh, which the group has denied; an absurd rumour to begin with, considering that La Oreja has continued to tour during the summer, of course, with Leire in front of the microphone.
And, of course, Leire also has something to say about this whole matter. In an interview on Navarre television, Leire has defended her dignity against the voices that have flattered Amaia incessantly, as if she did not exist. “It does not affect me that people say that Amaia is returning to the group, what I do not like is that I am ignored,” she declared. “I do not like to hear and see certain comments. And what about me? It seems that everyone forgets that there is a singer in the group. I have been here for 16 years. It is ugly to see that it seems that nothing matters. I do not deserve that, although it affects me to the extent that I want it to.”
Regarding the rumours of Amaia’s return, Leire has pointed out that “if it were true that she is coming back, it is something that I am not considering” and that “it will be the group who decides or not”, and she has criticised the insistence on comparing them, almost twenty years later: “I understand what the game is and that there has been a certain interest in putting the focus on us when I think that this story does not give for more. She was there, she did super well. She is charismatic and wonderful and then she decided to leave the group and I joined. That’s it. The story does not give for more. I am surprised that she wants to feed herself.”
In a mysterious way, a hypothetical collaboration between Amaia and Leire continues to be formulated in a question with a fairly predictable answer. Leire, of course, offers the elegant answer: “This is very exciting, but I think that collaborations have to be born in a natural way and because you really want to do them.” Leire adds that “she is immersed in her projects and we are in ours.”
