The duo formed in 2017 and released their debut album, Black Pumas, on June 21, 2019. They performed at South by Southwest in 2019 and won a best new band trophy at the 2019 Austin Music Awards. On November 20, 2019, they were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist.[1][2]
Quesada was a member of Latin funk band Grupo Fantasma when it won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album for the 2010 album El Existential, and when it was previously nominated for the same award in 2008 for Sonidos Gold.[2]
Through a mutual friend, Quesada connected with Burton, who had been a singer-songwriter in Austin since busking his way from Los Angeles in 2015. Quesada felt that Burton's vocals were a match for the retro-funk- and R&B-flavored tracks Quesada had been working on, and the two joined forces in 2018 as Black Pumas. Working out their material both in the studio and on-stage during a weekly residency at Austin's C-Boys Heart & Soul Bar, they signed a deal with ATO Records and released a pair of singles, "Black Moon Rising" and "Fire", in early 2019. Their acclaimed debut LP followed in June of that year and helped to earn the duo a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.
The duo's self-titled debut album was called "perfectly realized" by The Guardian, while Pitchfork described the band's sound as "acutely cinematic", and Rolling Stone complimented frontman Eric Burton's "tireless, charismatic energy".[citation needed]
Black Pumas performed "Colors" on Jimmy Kimmel Live![3] following their network TV debut on CBS This Morning[4] along with a taping on season 45 of Austin City Limits.[5] The band's single "Colors" later reached number one on AAA radio.
In 2020, the band performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show[6] and the The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,[7] and embarked on tours of North America and Europe including festival additions at Coachella and Newport Folk Festival. In their hometown of Austin, Texas, Black Pumas became the first band to sell out four consecutive shows at Stubbs, one of the city's live venues,[8] and on May 7, 2020, mayor Steve Adler proclaimed the date as Black Pumas Day.
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