Juan Luis Londoño Arias, better known as Maluma, is a Colombian singer of pop, reguetón, 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 8 years to football, a sport he is passionate about and which his father hoped he would succeed in, he decided in 2010, at the age of 16, to start vocal training to change the course of his life and fully commit to singing, a decision that 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 the middle of that same year. Following that, other tracks such as "Loco," "Obsesión," and "Pasarla bien" were well received, leading up to the release of his debut 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 received a nomination for a Latin Grammy in 2013 in the category of Best New Artist.
With a career that was beginning to establish itself and after a second album, Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy (2015), which features the song "Solos" recorded with the Cuban El Micha, Maluma released the single "Felices los cuatro" in early 2017. This track catapulted him to fame, and its music video became the most viewed Latin video worldwide in its first 24 hours, earning the singer a Vevo certification.
The bold lyrics that address 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. In mid that same year, Marc Anthony recorded a salsa version with the artist and appeared 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 achieved Gold and Platinum certifications in various countries around the world due to its sales volume.
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," which is part of the American's thirteenth studio album, Opus.
In 2019, one of the most significant collaborations in the singer's career occurred when he participated in 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 song "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, and Chencho Corleone from Plan B, as well as a track with Madonna, where they perform "Soltera."
Among his most notable collaborations is "Clandestino," featuring Shakira in June 2018. Rolling Stone ranked the song number six on its list of the 20 Best Latin Singles of 2018, and it reached 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 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 via her social media that she was collaborating with Maluma on two songs, Pa 'ti and Lonely, which will likely be part of the soundtrack for the film in which they both star and that does not yet have a release date.
