Peláez was born in 1976 and raised in Maicao, a city in northern Columbia. His parents elected for him to be born in Maracaibo, just over the border in Venezuela, as they felt that it had better hospitals. Age 16, he moved away to study communications, engineering, and music in Bogotá, Columbia's sprawling capital city. It was here that Rafael Ricardo -- accordionist and half of an acclaimed vallenato act with Otto Serge -- saw him perform live, subsequently asking him to join their band. As a result, the duo's 11th album, 1994's Imaginate -- their first for Sony -- opened with "Soñando Contigo," an early Peláez composition. In the late '90s, he regularly sang with Victor Reyes' Los Amigos de Sol, and played guitar and assisted with musical direction for such luminaries as Rafael Orozco and Joe Arroyo.
Sony issued Peláez's solo debut, while its follow-up -- 2005's Entre Amigos -- was released on Codiscos. This became a continual pattern, as he flitted between these two labels for much of his career. Not only was 2006's frenetic "Borracha" a hit, but it also became a popular song at subsequent Barranquilla carnivals. Leading up to the 2010 Santa Rosa Grammy win, he spent the next few years collaborating, recording 2008's A Mi Manera and 2009's A Paso Firme with Zabaleta, and 2010's Mas Que Palabras with Manuel Julián. In 2011, De Otra Maneca, a guitar-based album, was nominated for a Latin Grammy. All in all, the 2010s was a fruitful decade for Peláez. He built on the success of 2012's Diferente, issuing five further studio albums before the end of the decade, as well as his first retrospective and live releases. Highlights included 2016's Vestirte de Amor -- the title track of which held the Colombian number one spot for eight weeks -- and 2018's forward-looking Ponle Actitud. He was signed by Arte Music in time for 2021's Esencia and 2022's Diverso. ~ James Wilkinson., Rovi