- Chao's mother, Felisa Ortega, is from Bilbao, Basque Country, and his father, writer and journalist Ramón Chao, is from Vilalba, Galicia.
- Son of Ramón Chao and brother of French journalist Antoine Chao.
- He sings in French, Spanish, English, Italian, Arabic, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Greek and occasionally in other languages.
- With friends and his brother Antoine Chao, he founded the band Mano Negra in 1987, achieving considerable success, particularly in Europe.
- Chao's lyrics provoke his audience to think about immigration, love, living in ghettos, drugs, and often carry a left-wing message.
- Heavily influenced by the UK rock scene, particularly The Clash, The Jam and Dr. Feelgood.
- Since 1991, Chao has been working with La Colifata, which is an NGO made up of a group of patients and ex patients of Hospital Borda, a psychiatric hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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