Pablo Alborán

Known for earnest acoustic pop marked by flamenco-style guitar and passionate love songs, singer/songwriter Pablo Alborán became a massive hitmaker — first in his native Spain and later on charts around the world — beginning in 2010 with the release of the chart-topping single “Solamente Tú.” It set the stage for his multi-platinum eponymous debut in 2011. Alborán’s first five studio albums all went to number one in Spain, with the third, 2014′s Terral, topping the U.S. Latin Pop Albums chart. It also garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Pop Album. He had his 11th Top Ten single with 2017′s “No Vaya a Ser” from his fourth studio LP, the Grammy-nominated Prometo, before returning to the top of Spain’s album chart with 2020′s Vertigo and 2022′s La Cuarta Hoja.
Born Pablo Moreno de Alborán Ferrándiz on May 31, 1989 in Málaga, Spain, he learned to play guitar at a young age and wrote his first songs at age 12. In time, he was signed to a major-label recording contract with EMI and made his album debut with Pablo Alborán in 2011. Featuring the chart-topping hit single “Solamente Tú,” the self-titled full-length effort topped the Spanish albums chart for six weeks straight, making Alborán one of the biggest revelations of the year in Spain. A follow-up single, “Miedo,” also charted, and the album eventually went platinum in Spain six times over. The end of the year brought the concert album En Acústico, which produced its own pair of hits, the Spanish chart-topper “Perdóname” (featuring Portuguese fado singer Carminho) and “Te He Echado de Menos.”
Touring, writing, and recording sessions for Alborán’s second album consumed much of the following year, but by November of 2012, his next single and album (both titled Tanto) had appeared. Tanto was an even bigger hit than his first album, charting at the top in his native country for many weeks and selling nearly twice as many copies. Two further singles, “El Beso” and “Quién,” hit number one in Spain. Alborán’s third album, Terral, followed in 2014. Completely self-written, with co-production by Alborán and Eric Rosse in Los Angeles, Terral was not only a big hit in Spain but became his first number one on the U.S. Latin charts. The singles “Por Fin” and “Pasos de Cero” both reached the top of the charts in Spain, making Alborán one of the country’s most popular artists. In April 2016, he released the single “Se Puede Amar,” following it with a tour of Central America. That August, Alborán re-released “Dónde Está el Amor” (with Brazilian singer Tiê), which was included on the telenovela soundtrack Haja Coração.
Led by the romantic Top 20 singles “Saturno” and “No Vaya a Ser,” the 13-song Prometo saw release in November 2017. It spent seven weeks at number one and earned Alborán his second straight Grammy nomination for Best Latin Pop Album. In 2019, the dance-oriented “Tabú” spawned its own remix EP featuring Ava Max. Alborán’s fifth studio album, the Grammy-nominated Vertigo, went to number one upon its release in December 2020. It was produced by Prometo’s Julio Reyes Copello. 2022 marked the arrival of the singles “Amigos (con Maria Becerra)” and “Ave de Paso (con Ana Mena),” both of which appeared on his sixth full-length effort, La Cuarta Hoja, later that December. ~ Jason Birchmeier & Marcy Donelson