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 comes from the combination of 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 receiving vocal training to turn his life around and fully dedicate himself to singing, which has undoubtedly propelled 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 agreement in mid-2011. Following this, other songs like "Loco," "Obsesión," and "Pasarla bien" were well received until 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 it reached the top of the charts in the United States and Latin America and earned a nomination for the Latin Grammy in 2013 for Best New Artist.
With a career that was beginning to solidify, and after the release of a second album, Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy (2015), which features the song "Solos" recorded with the Cuban artist El Micha, Maluma launched the single "Felices los cuatro" in early 2017. This song propelled him to fame, and its music video became the most viewed Latin video globally within the first 24 hours, earning the singer a Vevo certification.
The daring lyrics that discuss the love triangle between Maluma and a married woman, portrayed by the Cuban-Croatian model Natalia Barulich, who later became his partner, do not go unnoticed. By mid-year, Marc Anthony records a salsa version with the artist and appears in the music video for this version 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, due to the number of copies sold, achieved Gold and Platinum certifications in various countries around the world.
The friendship between Maluma and Marc Anthony has solidified over the years, and it is common to see them sharing stages and projects. In 2019, the Colombian wrote the lyrics for the song "Parecen Viernes," a single that is part of the American's thirteenth studio album, Opus.
In 2019, one of the most significant collaborations in the singer's career took place when he became a part of Madonna's album Madame X. Medellín, the album's lead single, reached the eighteenth position 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 the top of that list. Two months later, the artists reunited for the track Bitch I'm loca, also from the same album.
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 song with Madonna, with whom he performs "Soltera."
Among his most notable collaborations is "Clandestino," with Shakira in June 2018. Rolling Stone ranked the song number six on its list of the 20 Best Latin Singles of 2018, and it placed number 14 in Billboard's critics' selection of the 20 Best Latin Songs of 2018.
In 2018, he was selected by People magazine as the Sexiest Man Alive.
In 2019, as a guest on the famous show The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, he confessed to the host that he would like to collaborate musically with Justin Timberlake, who has influenced his musical style.
In 2019, he began filming alongside Jennifer Lopez and American actor Owen Wilson for his first movie, Marry Me, marking the Colombian artist's debut in cinema. In September 2020, Lopez announced through her social media that she collaborated with Maluma on two songs, Pa 'ti and Lonely, which will likely be part of the soundtrack for the film in which both act and that still does not have a release date.
