Maluma

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 the names of his mother, Marlli, his father, Luis, and his sister, Manuela. After dedicating more than eight years to football, a sport he is passionate about and in which his father hoped he would succeed as an athlete, he decided in 2010, at the age of 16, to begin vocal training to change the course of his life and fully commit to music, which ultimately propelled him to stardom.

In 2011, he released the single "Farandulera," which launched him to fame in Colombia and caught the attention of Sony Music, with whom he signed a recording contract in mid-year. Subsequently, 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 in the category of Best New Artist.

With a career that was beginning to take shape, and after a second album, Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy (2015), which featured the song "Solos" recorded with the Cuban El Micha, Maluma released the single "Felices los cuatro" in early 2017. This song catapulted him to fame, and its music video became the most viewed Latin video worldwide within the first 24 hours, earning the artist a Vevo certification.

The bold lyrics that discuss the love triangle between Maluma and a married woman, portrayed by 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 achieved gold and platinum certifications in various countries worldwide 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 sharing stages and projects. In 2019, the Colombian wrote the lyrics for the song "Parecen Viernes," which is included in the thirteenth studio album of the American artist, Opus.

In 2019, one of the most significant collaborations in the singer's career came to life when he joined 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, they 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, and Farina, and includes another track with Madonna, where they perform "Soltera."

Among his most notable collaborations is "Clandestino" with Shakira in June 2018. Rolling Stone ranked the song at number six on its list of the 20 Best Latin Singles of 2018, while it placed number 14 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 show The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, 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 songs, "Pa' ti" and "Lonely," which are likely to be part of the soundtrack of the film in which they both star, although it does not yet have a release date.