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 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 vocal training to change the course of his life and fully commit to singing, a decision that has undoubtedly catapulted him to stardom.
In 2011, he released the single "Farandulera," which catapulted 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, he released other songs like "Loco," "Obsesión," and "Pasarla bien," which were well-received until the launch 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 received a nomination for the Latin Grammy in 2013 for Best New Artist.
With a career that was starting to solidify and after his 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 song catapulted him to fame, and its music video became the most viewed Latin video in the world within its first 24 hours, earning the singer a Vevo certification.
The bold lyrics about 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 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 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," 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 occurred when he became part of Madonna's album, Madame X. Medellín, the album's first single, reached the eighteenth spot 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 joined forces again for the track Bitch I'm loca, also from the same album.
That same year, in 2019, the Colombian's fourth album, 11:11, was released under the Sony Music Latin label. It features collaborations with Ricky Martin, Ozuna, Nicky Jam, Zion & Lennox, Sech, Ty Dolla $ign, Chencho Corleone from Plan B, Farina, and again includes a track with Madonna, with whom he performs 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' choice for the 20 Best Latin Songs of 2018.
In 2018, he was named the sexiest man in the world by People magazine.
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 will likely be included in the soundtrack of the movie in which they both act, and for which a release date has yet to be announced.
