Maluma | Official Biography & Artist Profile

Early life and musical beginnings

Son of Marlli Arias and Luis Alfonso Londoño, he has an older sister named Manuela.
He was a fan of sports, especially soccer, which he played for eight consecutive years and was part of the lower divisions of the Atlético Nacional and Club Deportivo La Equidad teams.
He was also passionate about music, an enthusiasm that he gradually made known at home and school, where he had his first approach to the public in a singing competition.
Thus, his classmates were the first to hear the voice of Juan Luis Londoño Arias singing Tengo Ganas, a song by the singer-songwriter Andrés Cepeda. His audience awarded him first place in the competition without hesitation.

The birth of Maluma

At the age of 15, Juan Luis composed a song called No Quiero, which surprised music producers and they offered him to record an album, but not before warning him that he should use a more sonorous name, easy to remember and well received among fans of the urban genre.
It was then that the idea arose to take the first syllables of the names of the most important people in his family to create an original one. Thus, the syllables of Marlli, his mother’s name, Luis, his father’s, and Manuela, his older sister’s, gave life to MALUMA.

Rise to fame

His breakthrough came in 2011 in Colombia with the single Farandulera and the debut of his album Magia.
The following year, after releasing the songs Loco and Obsesión, Maluma released a new single Pasarla bien, reaching the top positions in the Latin American charts.
His talent led him to be nominated for a Latin Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2013, an achievement that also took his name beyond the borders of his native country.
Since then, Maluma has performed on major international channels, concerts everywhere, as well as the inclusion of his songs in the top positions of the most popular music lists.

Success and recognition

On October 30, 2015, Pretty boy, Dirty boy was released worldwide, occupying the first place in sales in the United States, according to Billboard’s Top Latin Album chart; immediately, the single Borró Casette took the first place on Billboard’s Latin Air Play charts.
Other hits from this album included El perdedor and Sin Contrato.
In 2014 and 2015, Maluma participated as a judge and coach on the television program La Voz Kids and, in October of that same year, he took his first steps as a businessman with his first clothing line.
In February 2016, he participated in the Lo Nuestro Awards ceremony, where he performed the song Pa’ Mayté, a tribute to Carlos Vives, and the song Desde esa Noche with Thalía.
In 2017, he was invited as an artist and jury for the Viña del Mar Festival in Chile, during that date the song Chantaje was released, in collaboration with Shakira, which immediately became a worldwide success, as well as the song Vente pa’ ca with the famous Puerto Rican Ricky Martin.
Maluma is considered by specialized critics as one of the urban music artists with the greatest impact in Latin America, winner and deserving of countless awards and recognitions in the world of music.

Additional information

Maluma has released four studio albums: Magia (2012), Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy (2015), F.A.M.E. (2018), and #7DJ (2021).
He has also won numerous awards, including a Latin Grammy Award, a MTV Video Music Award, and several Billboard Music Awards.
Maluma is one of the most popular Latin American artists in the world, with over 60 million followers on Instagram.