Manu Chao is a French Latin folk singer of French and Spanish (Basque/Galician) origin.

Manu Chao was a well-known member of the Parisian alternative music scene, in bands such as Hot Pants and Los Carayos. In 1987, Chao, his brother Antoine Chao and their cousin Santiago Casariego founded the band Mano Negra. Mano Negra met with success in France first with the hit single Mala Vida, then toured South America. The band split in 1995.

He sings in French, Spanish, Arabic, Galician, Portuguese, English, Italian, and Wolof, often mixing them in the same song. He is one of the world's largest selling artists, but is less known in the English-speaking world.

His music has many influences: rock, French chanson, Spanish-American salsa, reggae, ska and Algerian rai. These influences were obtained from immigrants in France, his Iberian relations, and foremost his travels in Mesoamerica as a wandering nomad following the disbanding of Mano Negra. Many of Chao's lyrics are about political issues (e.g. immigration, global social justice, conflict, and strongly leftist critique of exploitative economic globalization) but also about love, lifestyles in different parts of the world, and music itself, which is hopeful for the future and at the same time dramatic. Chao is openly critical of the Bush administration in the US. He has many followers among the European left and the anti-globalization movement.

The influence of Manu Chao in the Latin Rock or "Rock en español" was crucial not only for the developement and rise of new latin bands that tried to emulate his ecclectic style, but also for the self-knowledge of latinamerica as an united culture. After his visit with Mano Negra to several countries of the southamerican continent, Manu Chao lyrics tend to be written more in spanish as compared to Mano Negra's lyrics. His songs also took the lyrics or chords of some popular tunes like "El preso" from "Fruko y Sus Tesos" (in "Desaparecido") or "La verdolaga" a traditional colombian cumbia (in "Por el suelo").

Manu Chao's music does not follow a logical textual narrative, but in its ecclectic construction it invokes a deeper understanding of its subject than any literal form could. He sings songs about the people of the streets, the outer provinces, and the marginalised; he sings with the forgotten and uncounted billions, the underclass, and in so doing he speaks about the fragility of human kind. His music is a bridge, exploring the common ground and means of mutual understanding that is available to us, exponating the idea that beyond superfluous differences in cultural identity, we are all the same.