Born in
Rüsselsheim, West Germany, and raised in
Madrid, Spain, Marín started his career in music early in life, recording his first album when he was eight years old, produced by Dutch singer-songwriter and record producer
Pierre Kartner. The record, named The
Little Caruso, contained songs like "
O Sole Mio" and "
Granada". At eight years old, he sang "Granada" in front of an audience of 800 people. At age ten he recorded a second album called
Mijn Lieve Mama (My Dear Mother). This musical beginning led him to study piano and
solfeggio. During this period Marín lived in the Netherlands in Eindhoven, but moved back to Spain when he was twelve. In Spain he won several awards in television contests like "Gente Joven" (Young People) and "Nueva Gente" (New People) in
TVE (Spanish Television) when he was 15 and in his 20s. During this time he also started to sing on live television shows accompanied by an orchestra. He earned through the years an important reputation as a musical performer, cultivating different musical genres and receiving excellent reviews from critics. He made a name for himself in the music industry, participating in several musical contests; the "Jacinto Guerrero", "Francisco Alonso", and "Julián Gayarre" in 1996, where he won second place in male performers, among others. He performed in several musicals, starting in 1993 as Marius in
Les Misérables, and afterwards
Beauty and the Beast (where he had an accident that left him with a ruptured tendon in his calf and took six months to recover),
Grease (where he played the role of Vince Fontaine),
El Diluvio Que Viene (the Spanish language version of the Italian musical "
Aggiungi un posto a tavola"), and covering for
José Sacristán in
Man from La Mancha. He participated also in the production of
La Magia De Broadway (Broadway Magic) and
Peter Pan (in theater and CD), in this musical he shared also the tasks of musical direction with
Alberto Quintero. He sang in
Henry Selick's animated film,
The Nightmare Before Christmas, and he was also the Prince's singing voice in
Disney's Spanish version of
Cinderella, produced in the year 2000. In later years he won acclaim as
primo baritono in several operas, including
La Traviata,
The Barber of Seville,
La Bohème,
Lucia Di Lammermoor, and
Madame Butterfly. Some of his most distinguished opera performances included Mercutio in
Campoamor (Oviedo), Don Giglio in
La Capricciosa Corretta (highly recommended for opera lovers), or in Damut's version of
Marina. Marín also participated in
zarzuela (Spanish operetta). He participated in the zarzuelas in the
Jardines De Sabatini (Sabatini Gardens) in Madrid, a popular summer music venue at the Gardens of the
Royal Palace of Madrid. Some of his performances in the Spanish operetta include
La Gran Vía (The Great Way),
La revoltosa (The Rebellious), in which he played Felipe, and
La verbena de la Paloma (The Fair of the Virgin of la Paloma), in which he played Julián. == Il Divo ==