David Bisbal Ferre (born 5 June 1979) is a Spanish singer and actor. He gained his initial fame as the runner-up on the first edition of the reality television talent show Operación Triunfo.
He has since released five studio albums, all of which topped the Spanish Albums Chart, in addition to recording a number of live albums. He has toured throughout Europe and Latin America and is now considered to be a crossover international artist.
As of 2019, David Bisbal has sold more than six million records in Spain and America, getting 69 platinum albums, 20 gold and two diamond. Corazón Latino and Bulería have each received an IFPI Platinum Award, the official certification of having sold over one million copies across Europe.
Early life
David Bisbal was born on 5 June 1979 in Almería, Spain. His parents are José Bisbal, a professional boxer who was Spanish national Bantamweight and Featherweight champion and part of a trio of flamenco musicians, and Maria Ferre Montoya. He is the youngest of three siblings, a brother named José María and a sister named María del Mar. As a child, Bisbal showed a talent for performing, but was always very shy about doing so in public.
Bisbal attended the secondary school IES Al-Andalus in Almería, but dropped out in his second to last year at around age 15. After dropping out, his father took him to work in a greenhouse in Almería, which was his first known job. A few years later he met the producer of Orchestra Expressions, a popular band in Almería. After listening to and discovering his vocal quality, the producer offered him employment as the main singer of the group.
Through his work in Orchestra Expressions, he gradually began to develop as a singer, and to discover his passion for music. David went on to audition for the first series of Operación Triunfo in Barcelona in 2001. He was one of 16 contestants who competed to go to Eurovision 2002 and he came in second place to Rosa López. Bisbal then performed at Eurovision in the backing chorus to Rosa López along with fellow finalists David Bustamante, Chenoa, Gisela and Geno.
Career
2001–2002: Early beginnings and Operación Triunfo
In October 2001 he auditioned for the first ever edition of Operación Triunfo (the Spanish original version of Star Academy) where he was accepted and was one of the sixteen contestants. He reached the final, where he placed as the runner-up to Rosa López. The top three contestants qualified for a secondary phase of the contest, where the prize was the chance of representing Spain in the 47th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. He came second in the Eurovision phase with the song "Corazón Latino", losing again to Rosa López. She went on to sing "Europe's Living a Celebration" in that Eurovision held in Tallinn. Bisbal accompanied her there as one of the backing singers.
Bisbal signed a contract with Vale Music Record label and released his first album, recorded in Miami under the title Corazón Latino with producer and songwriter Kike Santander. The album went platinum 7 times by summer 2002, after having topped the Spanish charts. The first single from the album, called Ave María, had a phenomenal success. After winning a Latin Grammy, the album went platinum (over 1 million in sales).
2002–2003: International launch debut album
After achieving fame as Operación Triunfo finalist, he signed a contract with label Vale Music, offering him the opportunity to record his first solo debut album. The album, entitled Corazón Latino, was released in Summer 2002, recorded in Miami and produced by Kike Santander. The album reached number one in its debut week selling over 600,000 copies, breaking sales records; the album stayed for seven consecutive weeks at number one on the Spanish Albums Chart.
With more than 1,300,000 copies sold in Spain, Bisbal was launched to the rest of the Spanish-speaking world; his debut album would be released on 15 October. In January 2003, Bisbal received an Amigo award in Madrid's Palacio de Cristal de la Arganzuela.
On 31 October he began his first tour of Latin America in Argentina; he visited 12 countries and performed 17 live concerts. In November, a special issue of Corazón Latino was released in Mexico.
2004–2005: Bulería, the second million record sales
On 10 February 2004, he released his second album entitled Bulería, again produced by his friend Kike Santander. It found similar success in Spain and throughout Latin America, hitting the diamond certification with more than 1 million albums sold in Spain alone, and becoming the best Spanish seller of 2004.
The first single from Bisbal's second album, "Bulería", premiered on 15 December 2003. It reached number 1 on the charts and radio stations of both Spain and Latin America. On 11 February, the eponymous album was released. The album debuted on the charts in Spain, where more than 300,000 copies were sold in a week. It also reached gold certification in Colombia and Venezuela within two weeks.
In March 2005, he also released a DVD Todo Por Ustedes that contained live recordings of some of his concerts in the United States, Latin America and Spain.
He first set foot in Germany in November in order to promote his duet with singer Joana Zimmer. The duet's theme was "Let's make history". Several days after presenting the video with Joana Zimmer, David performed at the Tribute to Rocío Jurado Gala.
2006–2008: Premonición and promotion in Europe and Japan
The first single of his third studio album Premonición, "Quién me iba a decir" was released in August 2006. The album was released on 3 October 2006. It sold more than 900,000 copies.
Premonición was the third studio album by David Bisbal released on 3 October 2006. By the end of its first week of release, it had achieved enough sales to be certified as 5 times platinum with sales of over 400,000 copies in Spain alone.
On 24 October he performed at the seat of European Parliament in Strasbourg in an exclusive concert in which he performed the songs from his album to representatives of 25 member countries. The album stayed for a month at number one on the Spanish chart. The singer won an Ondas Award in a ceremony held at the Barcelona Teatre Musical, and a Micrófono de Oro award. In January 2007, the second single from the album "Silencio" stayed for eight weeks at number one in Los 40 Principales, Spain's Top 40 Chart.
In 2008, Bisbal performed a duet with Rihanna, "Hate That I Love You", which was included in the re-issue of Good Girl Gone Bad.
2009–2010: Sin Mirar Atrás
His fourth studio album Sin Mirar Atrás was released on 20 October 2009 in Spain, Latin America and the United States. The first single from the album was "Esclavo de tus Besos", under the production of Mexican-born Armando Ávila. Its world premiere was on 24 August and the video came out on 7 September. It was one of the most successful singles of the Spanish singer in his career, reaching number 1 on sales and radio charts in Spain, Latin America and the United States.
On 20 October 2009, Bisbal released Sin Mirar Atrás, receiving positive reviews. David worked with writer/producer DJ Sammy on the track "Aqui Ahora", which is featured on the album Premonición.
On 9 January 2010, Promusicae announced that "Esclavo de Tus Besos" had earned a double platinum certification for its more than 80,000 copies sold in Spain, and it also earned a platinum certification in Argentina for more than 20,000 copies sold. The second single from the album was "Mi Princesa". The song "24 Horas" made with Mexican singer Espinoza Paz, was the third single in the U.S. and Latin America and was presented at the 2010 Billboard Awards, while in Spain the single was "Sin Mirar Atrás", a song that gave title to the album. Bisbal also won his first Latin Grammy in 2009. On 14 November 2010 he was presented the Gold Record for the sales of the album in USA and Puerto Rico.
2011–present: Herederos and The Voice
David Bisbal sang the theme…