Melendi

Melendi was born in Oviedo, Asturias.{{Cite web|url=http://www.coveralia.com/biografias/Melendi.php|title=Biografía de Melendi|website=Coveralia.com|access-date=2019-07-11}} He went to school with Formula One race car driver Fernando Alonso, to whom he dedicated the song "Magic Alonso". Melendi also did racing for a while. He realized very quickly that though he was not made for racing nor studying, he was good at football. He played in the lower ranks of Astur CF, at the time a reserve team for Real Oviedo.{{Cite web|url=https://www.periodistadigital.com/cultura/musica/20180523/melendi-confiesa-motivo-real-cambio-radical-noticia-689401076257/|title=Melendi confiesa el motivo real de su cambio radical|last=Digital|first=Periodista|date=23 May 2018|website=Periodista Digital|language=es|access-date=2019-07-11}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/412021/0/entrevista/melendi/curiosa/|title=Melendi: "Gracias al incidente del avión me planteé muchas cosas de la vida"|last=20Minutos|date=16 September 2008|website=20minutos.es|language=es|access-date=2019-07-11}} Afterwards, he worked as a waiter in several bars, living experiences that would later make up the lyrics of his songs.

In 2001, he joined a group called "El bosque de Sherwood", and soon after recorded a demo with only three songs, "Sin noticias de Holanda", "El informe del forense", and "Vuelvo a traficar".

In February 2003, Melendi released his first solo album, Sin noticias de Holanda, with twelve songs. In December 2003, this disc was rereleased with two new songs, "Asturias" and "Moratalá". However, he reached true fame when the 2004 Vuelta a España chose his song "Con la luna llena" as its official theme. In May 2004, he started a small tour around Spain, selling 50,000 copies of his CD, making it a gold album.

File:Melendi en Valladolid.JPG

In 2005, he released his second solo CD, Que el cielo espere sentao, which has sold more than 200,000 copies. Later that same year, he rereleased the album with three new songs, "El Nano", "La dama y el vagabundo" and "Carlota", and a Live concert DVD recorded in Oviedo. He also became a father that year, and received the Onda award for Best Song of the Year for "Caminando por la vida". In November 2005, he received seven Platinum Discs for his two albums. Sin noticias... received four and Que el cielo... three.

In 2006, it was announced that Melendi would be one of the main stars in the PSP game Gangs of London. Melendi played Mr. Big, an evil gangster. He also wrote the song "Gangs of London" for the occasion, going on to film a video amidst police lights and sirens. The videogame was launched on 1 August of that year in the UK and on 6 September in Spain; EMI stepped in to distribute his CDs worldwide. He also wrote the song "Volveremos" (We Shall Return) for Real Oviedo. The singer is also involved in the production of the film Vuelvo a traficar (I'm Dealing Again). Mientras no cueste trabajo was released on 13 November 2006, in two formats: a normal CD with 12 songs, and a special edition, with 16 songs and a DVD with extras. The disc was rereleased on 29 October 2009, with four new songs, "Firmes", "El rey de la baraja", "La aceituna", and "Me gusta el fútbol".

In 2007, Melendi received the "Best Tour" award from the Premios de la Música ceremony held in Cordoba. He also did an advertising campaign for Canal+ Spain entitled "Me gusta el fútbol" (I Like Football), for which he wrote a song of the same name.

Also in 2007, Melendi stood trial for provoking an incident while under the influence of alcohol on a flight from Madrid to Mexico City that required the pilot to return to Madrid two hours after takeoff.{{Cite web|url=https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/11/13/espana/1194946454.html|title=Melendi, detenido por alterar el orden público en pleno vuelo Madrid-México | elmundo.es|website=Elmundo.es}}{{Cite web|url=https://elpais.com/elpais/2007/11/14/actualidad/1195026532_850215.html|title=Melendi: "Pido disculpas"|date=14 November 2007|website=Elpais.com}} He was released after testifying. Soon after, he was given the "Left Foot" award from Spanish radio station Cadena 100 for this incident.

Currently, Melendi directs his Blue Donkey Music company, helping young singers start their careers. He has offered contracts to four groups, Algunos Hombres Buenos, Rasel, La Dama y Belo, and Los Susodichos. This last group was nominated for a Latin Grammy for Best Rock Vocals. Algunos Hombres Buenos left the label in 2008.

On 9 August 2008, he presented his new single, "Un violinista en tu tejado" from his album Curiosa la cara de tu padre on Spanish radio station Los 40 Principales. The album was released on 16 September 2008. On 12 December, Los 40 Principales awarded him their award for this album.

On 17 December 2009, he released a new double CD, Aún más curiosa la cara de tu padre, including the original disc and another with nine new songs and links to exclusive content on his website.

In 2011, Melendi recorded a cover of "True colours" by Cyndi Lauper in Catalan called "Ulls dolços", for the CD of TV3's telethon La Marató.{{Cite web|title=El disc|url=https://www.ccma.cat/tv3/marato/disc/2019/1650/|access-date=2021-06-17|website=CCMA|language=ca}}

On 13 November 2012, he released a new album called Lágrimas desordenadas.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bekia.es/musica/noticias/melendi-estrena-portada-nuevo-disco-lagrimas-desordenadas-vera-luz-13-noviembre/|title=Melendi estrena portada para su nuevo disco 'Lágrimas desordenadas', que verá la luz el 13 de noviembre|website=Bekia.es|language=es|access-date=2019-12-12}} He went on a tour of Spain and Latin America later that same year to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his first solo album.{{Cite web|url=https://www.elcomercio.es/culturas/musica/201409/10/melendi-estrena-tocado-hundido-20140910181409.html|title=Melendi estrena 'Tocado y hundido', anticipo del álbum 'Un alumno más'|date=10 September 2014|website=Elcomercio.es|language=es-ES|access-date=2019-12-12}}

His latest album, Un alumno más, was released on 25 November 2014.{{Cite web|url=http://cubasi.cu/cubasi-noticias-cuba-mundo-ultima-hora/item/31522-melendi-estrena-anticipo-del-album-un-alumno-mas|title=Melendi estrena anticipo del álbum "Un alumno más"|website=Cubasi.cu|access-date=2019-12-12}} Over the four months before the album was released, two songs from the album were released as lyrics videos. One was released as a single ("Tocado y hundido"), and one was released in an acoustic version.

In 2016, Melendi issued Quítate las gafas, featuring collaboration with ChocQuibTown. The first single from the album was "Desde Que Estamos Juntos", released on 23 September 2016. The other songs released were "La Casa No Es Igual", "Destino o Casualidad" and "Yo Me Veo Contigo". On 2 June 2017, he released a remix version of "Destino o Casualidad" with American duo Ha*Ash, along with the music video.{{Cite web|url=https://ossom.cl/melendi-lanza-single-y-video-destino-o-casualidad-feat-haash/|title=MELENDI LANZA SINGLE Y VIDEO "DESTINO O CASUALIDAD" feat. HA*ASH|last1=Jun 5|date=5 June 2017|website=OSSOM!|language=es|access-date=2020-04-17}} On 8 December 2017, he released a second compilation album, Yo me veo contigo, with 11 songs.{{Cite web|last=Corbalan|first=Miguel|date=18 December 2017|title=Melendi lanza "Yo Me Veo Contigo" una caja de lujo con todos sus éxitos|url=https://tangodiario.com.ar/melendi-lanza-me-veo-contigo-una-caja-lujo-todos-exitos/|access-date=2021-05-21|website=Tango Diario|language=es}}

In October 2019, Melendi joined as coach of the second Mexican season of La Voz Kids by Televisa.{{Cite web|url=https://www.diezminutos.es/famosos-corazon/famosos-espanoles/a29558292/melendi-mexico-la-voz-kids/|title=Melendi triunfa en México por su papel como coach en 'La Voz Kids'|last=Diezminutos.es|first=Por|date=23 October 2019|website=Diez Minutos|language=es-ES|access-date=2019-12-12}}

On 29 November 2019, he released a new album called 10:20:40,{{Cite web|date=30 November 2019|title=Melendi: Melendi lanza su nuevo trabajo en el que reune 10 temas y 1 balada|url=https://www.hola.com/actualidad/20191130155335/10-20-40-album-carrera-melendi-gt/|access-date=2021-05-21|website=HOLA|language=es}} featuring collaboration with Cali y El Dandee.{{Cite web|last=Feijoo|first=Bolivar|title=MELENDI estrena hoy su nuevo disco 10:20:40 {{!}} Wow La Revista|url=http://wowlarevista.com/melendi-estrena-hoy-su-nuevo-disco-102040/|access-date=2021-05-21|website=wowlarevista.com|language=en-US}}

In his early years, there were false reports announcing his alleged death from an overdose or shootings.{{cite web|url=https://los40.com/los40/2005/04/27/actualidad/1114552800_280521.html|title=Melendi's problems were just with the speculation|publisher=Los40|language=es|date=27 April 2005|accessdate=28 November 2022}}

In 2005, Melendi became the father for the first time of a girl named Carlota.{{cite web|url=https://www.elmundo.es/loc/famosos/2019/12/02/5de4db85fc6c83183b8b4651.html|title=Melendi's daughter is born|publisher=El Mundo|language=es|date=3 December 2019|accessdate=28 November 2022}}

In 2014 he met the Argentine actress and dancer Julia Nakamatsu, who later appeared in the singer's video "La promesa".{{cite web|url=https://geniuslyrics.net/melendi/la-promesa/|title=Melendi's video showed his partner included|publisher=Genius lyrics|language=es|date=18 June 2013|accessdate=28 November 2022}}

In 2023 Melendi revealed that his grandfather is originally from Camaguey, Cuba.

Melendi's first marriage with Miriam Martinez resulted in the birth of his first child Carlota Melendi Martinez in 2005. He was then married to Damaris Abad from 2010 to 2014, and his third marriage with Julia Nakamatsu started in 2014 until now, which resulted in the birth of four of his children, Marco, Lola, Abril, and Dakota Melendi Nakamatsu. From the early beginnings of his career, Melendi has been surrounded by a series of constant myths about his life. The most known myths were that he was involved with drug trafficking during his youth and that he had been in jail. These myths reached such notoriety that the artist himself made fun of this assumption in a concert celebrated in 2004 in Zamora. In November of 2007, he was arrested because of an instance in which he caused an alternate while being intoxicated on a flight from Madrid to Mexico. The severity of the case was such that the pilot of the plane made the decision to go back to the origin point two hours after they had taken off. He was arrested and put in freedom shortly after.

{{cite web |title=Melendi, detenido por alterar el orden público en pleno vuelo Madrid-México |url=https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/11/13/espana/1194946454.html |website=El Mundo |date=2007-11-13 |access-date=2025-04-06}}

{{cite web |title=Melendi: "Me cuesta oír mis primeros discos porque no me reconozco" |url=https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2004/09/23/cultura/1095956367.html |website=El Mundo |date=2004-09-23 |access-date=2025-04-06}}

{{cite web |title=Melendi anuncia que su mujer está dando a luz en pleno concierto |url=https://as.com/tikitakas/melendi-anuncia-que-su-mujer-esta-dando-a-luz-en-pleno-concierto-n/ |website=AS.com |date=2023-11-11 |access-date=2025-04-06}}

Influences

The artistic beginnings of Melendi were not academic nor formal; he does not have an official musical education, he mentions he started singing and playing guitar at the age of 16. His artistic inspirations are reflections of the artist's background, showcasing elements from the Spanish culture and folkloric genres such as flamenco and Rumba flamenca, Melendi’s biggest artistic inspirations are Joaquín Sabina, Jose Manuel Serrat and Pablo Milanés. Melendi began his career focusing on the popular styles and rhythms of Spain in the early 2000’s such as flamenco and Pop rock widely present on his debut album “Sin noticias de Holanda”. His musical journey showcases a clear switch as the artist has transitioned from the rhythms of flamenco to more produced and refined pop-rock infused with orchestral elements. The artist himself has recognized the evolution of his music in an interview where he mentioned that it's hard for him to listen to his first albums not because he finds them bad, but because he doesn't recognize himself. He has mentioned that each album represents a specific moment in his life but especially highlights the third album on which he had his first child. The artist mentions that most of his musical references come from the music his parents used to listen to and that he enjoys listening to those artists' interviews and learning where their music comes from. Melendez calls himself a creative person rather than an artist and, as a creative person, he understands the creative process. He writes a song by doing research, asking for different opinions and then he begins the writing process.{{Cite web |last=Roiz |first=Jessica |title=Melendi on His U.S. Tour, Songwriting & Artistic Growth |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/melendi-us-tour-songwriting-artistry-7710186/ |website=Billboard |date=March 15, 2017 |access-date=April 6, 2025}}

File:Melendi 2008.11.13 017.jpg

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• José Avilés Bas: "Volveremos Real Oviedo" (2013)
• Los Chunguitos: "Con la luna llena" (2004).
• Pablo Moro: "María" (2005).
• Algunos Hombres Buenos: "Salta" (2006).
• Seguridad Social: "Quiero tener tu presencia" (live, unedited).
• Belo: "Al gallo que me cante" (live, unedited).
• Un tributo a Brasil: "Adiós tristeza".
• Rasel "Mil razas" (2007).
• Guaraná: "De lao a lao" (2008).
• Pignoise: "Estoy enfermo" (2009).
• Fernando Tejero: "So payaso" (2010).
• Porretas: "Dos pulgas en un perro" (2011).
• Juanes: "Me enamora" (2011; live, unedited).
• Mojinos Escozíos y Ariel Rot: "Al carajo" (2011).
• Pablo Motos: "Marco" (2011).
• Malú: El apagón (2011) (live, unedited).
• Leonel García: "Para empezar" (2011; live, unedited).
• Pablo Alborán, Dani Martín, Malú, Carlos Baute, Rasel y La Dama: "Cuestión de prioridades por el cuerno de África" (2012).
• Malú: "Amigo" (2012).
• Lolita Flores: "Arriba los corazones", by Antonio Flores (live, unedited).
• Malú: "Con solo una sonrisa" (live, unedited).
• La Dama: "Corazón de peón" (live, unedited).
• Rasel: "Por qué" (2013).
• La Dama: "Estrella fugaz" (2014).
• Margarett: "Por ti" (2014).
• Laura Pausini: "Entre tú y mil mares" (2014).
• Antonio Orozco, Manuel Carrasco, Malú, Alejandro Sanz: "Mi Héroe" (2016)
• Ha*Ash: "Destino o Casualidad" (2017)
• Carlos Vives: "El Arrepentido" (2018)
• Beret :"Desde Cero" (2019)

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• Un Alumno Más (2015)
• Directo a Septiembre (2016)
• Quitate las Gafas (2017)
• Ahora (2018)
• Mi Cubo de Rubik (2019)
• 20 Años Sin Noticias (2024-2025)

{{cite web |title=Melendi anuncia nuevas fechas para su gira 20 Años Sin Noticias |url=https://los40.com/2025/03/27/melendi-se-hace-centenario-para-el-equipo-de-sus-amores/ |website=Los 40 |language=es |access-date=30 March 2025}}{{cite web |title=Conciertos |url=https://www.melendioficial.com/conciertos-test/ |website=Melendi Official Website |language=es |access-date=30 March 2025}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Official website|http://melendi.tv/}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071224134522/http://www.bluedonkeymusic.com/ Melendi's own record label]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100220175146/http://music.bloson.com/Melendi/ Melendi's discography]

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Category:1979 births

Category:Living people

Category:Singers from Asturias

Category:EMI Records artists

Category:Sony Music Spain artists

Category:Flamenco singers

Category:Musicians from Oviedo

Category:Pop rock singers

Category:Rock en español musicians

Category:Spanish pop singers

Category:Spanish rock singers

Category:21st-century Spanish singers

Category:21st-century Spanish male singers

Category:Latin music songwriters