Juan Luis Londoño Arias, better known as Maluma, is a Colombian singer of pop, reggaeton, and Latin trap born in Medellín, Colombia, on January 28, 1994. His stage name is derived from the first two letters of his mother Marlli's name, his father Luis's name, and his sister Manuela's name. After dedicating more than eight years to soccer, a sport he is passionate about and in which his father hoped he would become a successful athlete, he decided in 2010, at the age of 16, to start taking vocal lessons to turn his life around and fully commit to singing, which has undoubtedly launched him to stardom.
In 2011, he released the single "Farandulera," which propelled him to fame in Colombia and caught the attention of Sony Music, with whom he signed a recording contract in mid-year. Following that, other hits like "Loco," "Obsesión," and "Pasarla bien" were well-received, culminating in the release of his first album, "Magia," in 2012, which sold over ten thousand copies in his home country.
With the song "La Temperatura," in 2013 he reached the top of the charts in the United States and Latin America and received a nomination for the Latin Grammy in 2013 in the category of Best New Artist.
With a career that was beginning to solidify and after a second album, Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy (2015), which features the track "Solos" recorded with the Cuban artist El Micha, Maluma released the single "Felices los cuatro" in early 2017. This song skyrocketed him to fame, and its music video became the most-watched Latin video in the world within its first 24 hours, earning the singer a Vevo certification.
The bold lyrics that address the love triangle between Maluma and a married woman, played by Cuban-Croatian model Natalia Barulich, who later became his partner, do not go unnoticed. In the middle of that same year, Marc Anthony recorded a salsa version with the artist and appeared in the music video for this version, which was filmed a month later.
Both versions are part of their third single, F.A.M.E., which won the Latin Grammy for "Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Album" and achieved gold and platinum certifications in various countries around the world due to the number of copies sold.
The friendship between Maluma and Marc Anthony has developed over the years, and it is common to see them share stages and projects. In 2019, the Colombian wrote the lyrics for the song "Parecen Viernes," a single featured on the American's thirteenth studio album, "Opus."
In 2019, one of the most significant collaborations in the singer's life occurred when he joined Madonna's album Madame X. Medellín, the album's first single, reached eighteenth place on the Hot Latin Songs chart and became Madonna's 47th number one on the Dance Club Songs chart, further extending her record as the artist with the most entries at number one on that list. Two months later, also from the same album, the artists reunited for the song Bitch I'm loca.
That same year, in 2019, the Colombian artist released his fourth album, 11:11, under the Sony Music Latin label. The album features collaborations with Ricky Martin, Ozuna, Nicky Jam, Zion & Lennox, Sech, Ty Dolla $ign, Chencho Corleone from Plan B, Farina, and includes another track with Madonna, with whom he performs "Soltera."
Among his most notable collaborations is "Clandestino" with Shakira in June 2018. Rolling Stone ranked the song sixth in its list of the 20 Best Latin Singles of 2018, and it placed fourteenth in Billboard's critics' choice for the 20 Best Latin Songs of 2018.
In 2018, he was chosen by People magazine as the sexiest man in the world.
In 2019, as a guest on the famous Jimmy Fallon show The Tonight Show, he confessed to the host that he would like to have a musical collaboration with Justin Timberlake, who has influenced his musical style.
In 2019, he began filming his first movie, Marry Me, alongside Jennifer Lopez and American actor Owen Wilson, marking the Colombian artist's debut in cinema. In September 2020, Lopez announced through her social media that she collaborated with Maluma on two tracks, Pa 'ti and Lonely, which will likely be part of the soundtrack for the movie in which they both star, and that still doesn't have a release date.
