The 62nd annual Grammy Awards were this Sunday, and the breakout star we have our eyes on is flamenco darling Rosalía, whose performance was a guaranteed showstopper.
The Barcelona native and Best New Artist contender made history as the first nominee in the category who performs entirely in Spanish. Rosalía is also nominated for and Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album for El Mal Querer. But don't let the breakout part fool you — Rosalía has actually been killing it for a while now.
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Born Rosalía Vila Tobella, she first got her start on a Spanish singing competition called Tú sí que vales. At 15, she auditioned by singing an acoustic flamenco song followed by a rendition of Alicia Keys' "No One." And while unfortunately, she didn’t win, Rosalía's star power has risen tremendously.
Her music fuses hip-hop, R&B, pop, and, most of all, flamenco, the foundation of it all.
"My music wouldn't make sense without flamenco," she told Dazed. "I fell in love with this music genre when I was 13, and since then, I've never stopped exploring it."
If you're not super familiar with contemporary flamenco music, you may have heard her name for the first time back in 2019, when she won an MTV Video Music Award for her song "Con Altura" with J Balvin. That same year, she also won Album of the Year for El Mal Querer at the Latin Grammys. Rosalía has also collaborated with Travis Scott and James Blake and teased an upcoming collaboration with Billie Eilish last year.
Fun facts: Rosalía narrated Harry Styles' "Adore You" video, and Madonna tried to book her to perform at her Moroccan birthday party back in 2018. So yeah, calling her talented would be a vast understatement. I mean, Madonna?!
On Sunday's Grammys, Rosalía was facing off against a few other breakout stars, including Lizzo, Lil Nas X, and Maggie Rogers for Best New Artist. Although Billie Eilish won, it’s clear Rosalía is still one to watch.
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