1992–2016: Early life and career beginnings Rosalía Vila Tobella was born in 1992 at a hospital in
Sant Cugat del Vallès, Catalonia, although she was raised in
Sant Esteve Sesrovires,
Baix Llobregat. Born to a family with no musical background, she is the youngest daughter of María Pilar Tobella Aguilera, who runs Suprametal, SA, a family company specialising in metalworks for windows. Her father, José Manuel Vila, was born in
Cudillero,
Asturias, to a
Galician father from
Vigo and a mother from
Ávila, with one of his grandfathers being born in
Cuba. Her parents
separated in 2019. Rosalía has an older sister, Pilar "Pili" Vila (born 1989), who works with her as her stylist and creative director. Rosalía expressed interest in the performing arts at an early age, especially after discovering the discography of
Camarón de la Isla. She began her musical education at the Taller de Músics., where she completed a six-year course. She then began attending class at the
Raval school, later transferring to the
Superior School of Music of Catalonia. She graduated in 2017. At 15, she competed on the television show
Tú Sí Que Vales, although she was not selected. At 17, she had to undergo vocal cord surgery after tearing one of her vocal cords due to "intense singing practices" and was unable to sing for a year. In 2012, she became the vocalist of Kejaleo, a flamenco music group featuring Jordi Franco, Roger Blavia, Cristo Fontecilla, Diego Cortés and Xavi Turull. They released an album,
Alaire, in 2013. That same year, Rosalía professionally worked as a duo with
Juan "Chicuelo" Gómez to promote the
Blancanieves soundtrack at the 2013 Panama International Film Festival in substitution of
Sílvia Pérez Cruz and at the
Festival Grec de Barcelona for the contemporary dance work
De Carmen. In 2013, she participated in the
Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) Conference in New York, and was the lead voice in the culmination of the Any Espriu 2014. In 2015, she collaborated with
La Fura dels Baus on a show that premiered in
Singapore. She was the opening act for flamenco artist
Miguel Poveda, accompanied by Alfredo Lagos, at the International Music Festival of Cadaqués, and also at the 2016 Jerez Jazz Festival. She worked with Rocío Márquez on the presentation of her album
El Niño, produced by
Raül Refree, at
Primavera Sound. In 2015, she also worked with clothing brand
Desigual and sang the single for their campaign jingle "Last Night Was Eternal". and self-released "Un Millón de Veces" included in the benefit album
Tres Guitarras Para el Autismo. At 20, she worked as a flamenco teacher and vocal coach. In 2016, Rosalía collaborated with Spanish rapper and former boyfriend
C. Tangana on "
Antes de morirme". The song was a
sleeper hit and entered the
Spanish Singles Chart in 2018, after the success of Rosalía's newer material. The collaboration received international attention when it was featured on the soundtrack of the first season of the Spanish
Netflix show
Élite.
2016–2017: Los Ángeles In 2016, Rosalía performed to a crowd of a hundred people at the Tablao del Carmen, a flamenco specialised venue at the
Pueblo Español, in
Barcelona. In the audience was
Raül Refree, whom she invited to the show. They began working on two albums together. Rosalía signed with
Universal Music later in 2016, and she relocated to
California. She went on to only release
Los Ángeles. The album talks about death in a dark way with aggressive guitar chords by Refree. It presents reworks of flamenco classics receiving several accolades. She was nominated for
Best New Artist at the
18th Latin Grammy Awards. The album was released on 10 February 2017 through Universal Music and spawned two singles, "Catalina", released in October 2016, and "
De Plata", released in May 2017. The album was very well received by critics. Jordi Bardají wrote in 2018 that the record was "one of the greatest '
sleepers' that Spanish sales lists have known in recent times."
Los Ángeles reached its peak position of number nine on 11 November 2018 and has remained in the albums chart since its entry, having accumulated a total of 89 weeks.
Los Ángeles won the "Album of the Year" award at the
Time Out Awards and the
Premio Ruido, among others. In 2017,
RTVE contacted Rosalía to participate in the pre-selection to
represent Spain in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2017, which she declined because of scheduling conflicts with the promotion of her debut record. Rosalía and Raül Refree embarked on a concert tour, Los Ángeles Tour, supporting their first studio album together. The tour began on 11 February 2017 in
Granada and ended on 1 March 2018 at the
Palau de la Música in Barcelona. Spanish singer
Bebe attended one of their concerts in Madrid alongside
Juanes, who became "immediately obsessed with Rosalía" and asked his manager Rebeca León to work with her. She agreed to manage her as she felt like she was a "once in fifty years kind of artist".
2018–2020: El mal querer and international recognition The recording cycle for Rosalía's second studio album,
El mal querer, began in early 2017 as her
baccalaureate project, graduating from the
Catalonia College of Music. She personally chose to work alongside Spanish musician
el Guincho and spawned its concept alongside friend Ferran Echegaray, who bet on the
Romance of Flamenca to follow the album's storyline. Despite having no
budget to produce the record as she was an
independent artist working on a university project, Rosalía invested a lot of her own money, to the point of "almost going
bankrupt". The album was almost completely recorded at el Guincho's apartment in Barcelona with a computer, a microphone and a
sound card. It would mix traditional
flamenco with today's
pop and
urban music. In May 2018, the singer announced the title of her upcoming album in a little homemade
YouTube series.
J Balvin parallelly released his fifth studio album,
Vibras, which featured Rosalía on the track "
Brillo". Later that month, Rosalía released the album's lead single "
Malamente". The single caught the attention of international personalities such as
Kourtney Kardashian and
Dua Lipa and numerous music critics, while its
Canada-directed music video reached social media virality. The song was nominated for five
Latin Grammy Awards, out of it won two, for
Best Alternative Song and for
Best Urban Fusion/Performance. The follow-up single, "
Pienso en tu mirá", was released in July. Its music video received critical acclaim for its aesthetics and poetic symbolism. The song was nominated for Best Pop Song at the
2019 Latin Grammy Awards. The third single, "
Di mi nombre", released three days prior to the album, earned Rosalía her first number-one single in Spain.
El mal querer was released on 2 November 2018 and debuted at number two on the
PROMUSICAE chart. Presented as experimental and conceptual, it revolves around a toxic relationship described in the anonymous 13th-century
Occitan novel
Flamenca. The album was met with universal acclaim by
music critics. Writing for
The Guardian, head critic
Alexis Petridis highly commended the album, giving it the highest rating and describing it as "the calling card of a unique new talent".
Rolling Stone listed it 315th on their
500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, making it the highest Spanish-language album in the list. In 2019 Rosalía took part in the
Pedro Almodóvar film
Pain and Glory. She had previously contributed vocals to the soundtracks of
Arde Madrid and
Paquita Salas. In March 2019, Rosalía embarked on her first global concert tour,
El Mal Querer Tour, to further promote
El Mal Querer, with shows in South America, North America, Europe and Africa. in 2019 during El Mal Querer Tour|alt=|263x263pxWhile on tour, Rosalía issued several songs. On 28 March 2019, she released a second collaboration with Balvin, "
Con altura". Despite initially receiving mixed reviews from critics, "Con altura" topped the charts in Argentina, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela and Spain. Its music video, directed by
Director X, became the most-watched music video by a female artist of 2019. It also spawned her nickname "La Rosalía" and its choreography eventually became viral and a moment in
Latin pop culture. "Con altura" won two
MTV Video Music Awards for
Best Latin Video and
Best Choreography, making her the first Spanish act to win one. It also won
Best Collaboration at the 2019
MTV Europe Music Awards and
Best Urban Song at the
2019 Latin Grammys. The song has sold over seven million copies worldwide so far. In May, Rosalía released the song "
Aute Cuture". It became her third number-one in Spain and earned a Latin Grammy nomination for
Record of the Year. In July, she released the single
Fucking Money Man, which includes two tracks: "
Milionària" (which she sang in
Catalan) and "
Dios nos libre del dinero". On 15 August, she released her collaboration with
Ozuna "
Yo x ti, tú x mí", which became her fifth number one single in Spain. In November, Rosalía released "
A Palé", which features background vocals by
James Blake, who she had worked earlier with on "
Barefoot in the Park". In December, Rosalía was featured alongside
Lil Baby on the remix of
Travis Scott's "
Highest in the Room". She was awarded the Rising Star award at
Billboard's Women in Music for the international recognition she achieved during the year and for "changing the sound of today's mainstream music with her fresh flamenco-influenced pop". and, in May, "
TKN", her second collaboration with
Travis Scott, which eventually became her first entry on the
Billboard Hot 100, debuting at number 66, as well as the sixth number-one single of hers in her home country. The song went viral on
TikTok. The music video for "TKN", directed by
Nicolás Méndez, won the
Latin Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video. It also spawned a nomination for Best Direction at the
Berlin Music Video Awards. On 22 June,
Arca and Rosalía released their highly anticipated collaboration "
KLK", included in the musician's album
KiCk i.
2020–2023: Collaborations and Motomami Recording sessions for Rosalía's third studio album started as early as 2019. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, Rosalía relocated to
Miami where she continued to work on the album while also providing vocals to multiple songs. On 4 September 2020, a remix of
Sech's "
Relación", which also features
Daddy Yankee,
Farruko and
J Balvin, was released, earning Rosalía her second entry on the
Billboard Hot 100, peaking at 64. She also took part in
Bad Bunny's third solo studio album,
El Último Tour del Mundo, on the track "
La Noche de Anoche", which was later released as a single on
Valentine's Day. The collaboration, performed on
Saturday Night Live, became a huge commercial success, debuting at number two on the Spotify global chart with 6.63 million streams in a single day, marking the biggest debut for a song fully sung in Spanish in history. A week later, she collaborated alongside
the Weeknd on the remix of "
Blinding Lights" and, in January, with
Billie Eilish on "
Lo Vas a Olvidar", which was featured in a special episode of
Euphoria. Rosalía later collaborated with
Oneohtrix Point Never and
Tokischa on "Nothing's Special" and "
Linda" respectively. On 2 November 2021, Rosalía announced the title of her new album
Motomami. It was released on 18 March 2022 through
Columbia Records. Promotion prior to the album release encompassed the release of three singles and the promotional singles "
Hentai" and "
Candy". The lead single "
La Fama", featuring
the Weeknd, is an
experimental bachata that saw great commercial success. It became Rosalía's
seventh number one single in Spain while also peaking at five in France and reaching the top ten spot in eight other countries. In December 2021,
Rockstar Games launched a new
Grand Theft Auto Online radio station, Motomami Los Santos, curated by Rosalía and
Arca. In February 2022, Rosalía revealed the album artwork for
Motomami and released "
Saoko" as the album's second single to wide critical acclaim. The song's accompanying music video, directed by Valentin Petit, was shot in
Kyiv, mainly at
Podilskyi Bridge. For its editing done by Petit and Jon Echeveste, the video would go on to win the
MTV Video Music Award for Best Editing. On 24 February, Rosalía released "
Chicken Teriyaki" as the album's third single. |216x216px Upon release,
Motomami received universal acclaim from
music critics, many of whom praised the experimentation and genre-bending sounds.
Motomami received a perfect score from various publications, including
The Telegraph,
The Independent and
Variety and was given four stars or more by
Clash,
Rolling Stone,
Rockdelux,
The Guardian etc.
Pitchfork crowned
Motomami with its "Best New Music" honour writing, "It feels rare to hear an album that's so experimental, that aspires to stretch itself out across genres and play with form, and that attains exactly what it sets out to achieve. Rosalía was already a formidable singer, but here she also sounds like she learned that with global superstardom comes the freedom to set her own agenda". Commercially,
Motomami entered twenty-two charts in nineteen countries and reached the top ten in seven countries, two of them number-ones. The album entered major market charts, reaching the top forty in both on the
UK Albums Chart and the
Billboard 200. On
Spotify, it achieved the biggest debut for a Spanish-language album by a female artist on the platform's history, with 16.3 million streams in the first day. In July 2022, Rosalía embarked on her second worldwide concert tour,
Motomami World Tour, to further promote
Motomami, with shows in Europe, South America and North America. The setlist featured four unreleased tracks including "
Despechá", which was later released on 28 July to global success. Rosalía later took part in the forthcoming projects by
Romeo Santos, Niño de Elche, and
Wisin & Yandel. At the
23rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2022,
Motomami won the four categories in which it was nominated in, which were
Album of the Year,
Best Alternative Music Album,
Best Engineered Album and
Best Recording Package. Rosalía was the first woman and sixth act overall to win Album of the Year twice as a lead artist. She also received two nominations at the
65th Annual Grammy Awards for
Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album and
Best Music Film for Motomami TikTok Live, winning for the former category. However, media such as
Rolling Stone,
Pitchfork, the
New York Times and
W believed that the Recording Academy and the Grammys had snubbed
Motomami for the
Album of the Year category. on 28 April 2023 At the start of 2023, Rosalía collaborated with
Coca-Cola to create a limited edition flavor under its "Coca-Cola Creations" brand called "Move", for which she released the song "
LLYLM". In March, the singer embarked on a festival run off her
Motomami tour, which visited a great variety of festivals through 21 dates, including
Coachella,
Lollapalooza and
Primavera Sound. On 24 March, she released
RR, a collaborative EP with her then boyfriend, singer
Rauw Alejandro, and released the single "
Beso" to global success. On 28 April, Rosalía performed at a free concert organised by the
Secretariat of Culture in the
Zócalo of Mexico City, which had more than 160,000 attendees. According to a press statement, Rosalía performed in front of nearly 2 million people worldwide and visited 21 countries across three continents. In September 2023, Rosalía temporarily signed with Jaime Levine,
Shakira's former manager, after departing ways with Rebeca León. A
charity single alongside
Björk titled "
Oral" was released on 21 November 2023.
2024–present: Lux On 16 August 2024, Rosalía was featured on Thai rapper
Lisa's single "
New Woman". The song debuted at number 15 on the
Billboard Global 200 and at number six on the
Billboard Global Excl. US, becoming Lisa's fourth top-ten hit on the latter chart. It also debuted at number 97 on the US
Billboard Hot 100. This song became the second single of Lisa's album
Alter Ego and the fourth track in the album. In September 2024, Rosalía curated the soundtrack for the annual musical firework show done in Barcelona during
La Mercè, which took place on 24 September, where she premiered her new single "
Omega", featuring
Ralphie Choo, which was released the following day. In February 2025, Rosalía was reported to have been cast in the third season of the American drama television series,
Euphoria. In June 2025,
Hits Daily Double reported that Rosalía had signed with Jonathan Dickins' September Management.
Lux, Rosalía's fourth studio album, was announced on 20 October 2025. She released its lead single, "
Berghain", on 27 October and it topped the charts in her home country of Spain. The album was released on 7 November 2025, becoming her first to debut in the top ten of the
Billboard 200 and
UK Albums Chart as well as breaking the all-time record for most streamed album in a single day by a Spanish-speaking female artist. The track "
La Perla" was initially released as a part of the album rather than a single but proved popular in European markets and debuted at the top of the chart in Spain, replacing "Berghain" to become Rosalía's
thirteenth number-one. "La Perla" was sent to Italian radio as the album's second single on 5 December 2025. The digital release of Lux contains 15 tracks, while the physical edition contains 18. Musically, Lux was another example of Rosalía's skill of genre fusion that blended elements of
art pop and
classical and the album was praised by critics for its ambitious concept based around various female
Saints which addressed themes of "feminine mystique, transformation and "spirituality" in a total of fourteen languages. and the fourth-highest rated album in Metacritic's history. In March 2026, Rosalía embarked on the
Lux Tour, to further promote
Lux, with shows in Europe, South America and North America. == Artistry ==