David Bisbal

Early life

David Bisbal was born on 5 June 1979 in Almería, Spain. His father, José Bisbal, was a professional boxer who held Spanish national titles in the Bantamweight and Featherweight classes and also performed as part of a flamenco trio.

His mother is Maria Ferre Montoya. He is the youngest of three siblings, with an older brother named José María and an older sister named María del Mar. As a child, Bisbal had a natural ability for performing but was very shy about doing it in front of others.

He attended IES Al-Andalus secondary school in Almería but dropped out around age 15, during his second-to-last year. After leaving school, his father took him to work in a greenhouse in Almería, which became his first known job. A few years later, he met the producer of Orchestra Expressions, a popular local band. After hearing Bisbal's voice, the producer hired him as the group's lead singer.

Through that work, he started developing as a vocalist and discovered his passion for music. In 2001, he auditioned for the first series of Operación Triunfo in Barcelona, becoming one of 16 contestants. He finished in second place to Rosa López. Bisbal then performed as part of the backing chorus for López at Eurovision, alongside fellow finalists David Bustamante, Chenoa, Gisela, and Geno.

Career

In October 2001, Bisbal auditioned for the first edition of Operación Triunfo, Spain's version of Star Academy, and was accepted as one of sixteen contestants. He made it to the final, placing as the runner-up to Rosa López. The top three contestants then entered a secondary phase where the prize was a chance to represent Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest. Bisbal came second in that phase with the song "Corazón Latino," losing again to López, who went on to sing "Europe's Living a Celebration" in Tallinn.

Bisbal accompanied her as one of the backing singers. He signed with Vale Music and recorded his debut album, Corazón Latino, in Miami with producer Kike Santander. By summer 2002, the album had gone platinum seven times after topping the Spanish charts. The first single, "Ave María," was a massive success.

2002–2003: International launch debut album

After winning a Latin Grammy, the album went platinum with over one million sales. It debuted at number one, selling more than 600,000 copies in its first week and staying at the top for seven consecutive weeks. With over 1.3 million copies sold in Spain, Bisbal launched into the Spanish-speaking world, and the album was released on 15 October. In January 2003, he received an Amigo award at Madrid's Palacio de Cristal de la Arganzuela.

On 31 October, he began his first Latin American tour in Argentina, visiting 12 countries and performing 17 concerts. A special edition of Corazón Latino came out in Mexico that November. On 10 February 2004, he released his second album, Bulería, again produced by Kike Santander. It earned diamond certification with over one million albums sold in Spain alone, becoming the best-selling Spanish album of 2004.

2004–2005: Bulería, the second million record sales

The first single, "Bulería," premiered on 15 December 2003 and hit number one on charts and radio stations in Spain and Latin America. The album sold more than 300,000 copies in its first week in Spain and reached gold certification in Colombia and Venezuela within two weeks. In March 2005, he released a DVD, Todo Por Ustedes, with live recordings from concerts in the United States, Latin America, and Spain. He first went to Germany in November to promote a duet with Joana Zimmer titled "Let's Make History."

2006–2008: Premonición and promotion in Europe and Japan

The first single from his third studio album, Premonición, called "Quién me iba a decir," came out in August 2006, and the album followed on 3 October 2006, selling more than 900,000 copies. By the end of its first week, it had achieved five-times platinum status with over 400,000 copies sold in Spain. On 24 October, he performed at the European Parliament in Strasbourg for representatives of 25 member countries. The album stayed at number one on the Spanish chart for a month.

Bisbal won an Ondas Award at the Barcelona Teatre Musical and a Micrófono de Oro award. In January 2007, the second single, "Silencio," spent eight weeks at number one on Los 40 Principales, Spain's Top 40 Chart. In 2008, he performed a duet with Rihanna, "Hate That I Love You," included in the re-issue of Good Girl Gone Bad. His fourth studio album, Sin Mirar Atrás, was released on 20 October 2009 in Spain, Latin America, and the United States.

2009–2010: Sin Mirar Atrás

The first single, "Esclavo de tus Besos," produced by Armando Ávila, premiered on 24 August, with the video out on 7 September. It reached number one on sales and radio charts in Spain, Latin America, and the United States. On 9 January 2010, Promusicae announced that "Esclavo de tus Besos" had earned double platinum certification for over 80,000 copies sold in Spain, and platinum in Argentina for over 20,000 copies. The second single was "Mi Princesa."

The song "24 Horas" with Espinoza Paz was the third single in the U.S. and Latin America, presented at the 2010 Billboard Awards, while in Spain the single was "Sin Mirar Atrás." Bisbal won his first Latin Grammy in 2009. On 14 November 2010, he received a Gold Record for album sales in the USA and Puerto Rico. He sang the theme song for the Argentine soap opera Herederos de una venganza, written by Bisbal himself, Sebastian Bazan, and Karen Oliver.

On 5 November 2011, he released his first acoustic performance, a DVD/CD pack titled Una noche en el Teatro Real, recorded at Madrid's Teatro Real four days earlier. In its first week, it set a record as the first DVD/CD set to surpass CD sales on the Spanish charts, selling over 50,000 copies in seven days and achieving double platinum status. By 18 January, sales reached triple platinum with over 75,000 copies sold. In 2012, his CD Live at the Royal Albert Hall was certified platinum in Spain.