Leiva was born and raised in the neighborhood of Alameda de Osuna, in the northeast suburbs of Madrid. His great love of
football coupled with his strong resemblance to Leivinha, a Brazilian footballer who at the time played for
Atlético de Madrid, earned him the nickname Leiva. He would later use it as his stage name.
In Pereza His first musical activity was in 1994, as he became part of the Malahierba band in which he was a drummer. In 1998 he formed a trio band together with Rubén Pozo and drummer Tuli with the intention of making cover versions of
Leño. Subsequently Malahierba would evolve and become the band
Pereza. The band released its debut album in 2001, but without much success. From the second album,
Algo para cantar in 2003, the formation became a duo of Leiva and Ruben. With
Animales in 2005, they gained great fame and consolidated their position as one of the most important Spanish pop rock bands. Pereza had three more albums,
Los amigos de los animales in 2006,
Aproximaciones in 2007 and
Aviones in 2009.
Solo career The duo split in September 2011 with Leiva continuing as a solo singer, songwriter and musician. The first solo album of Leiva was
Diciembre (2012), that was self-produced and received positive reviews and awards such as the
Rolling Stone Award for best album of the year and two Latin Grammy nominations. In January 2014 Leiva came out with his second solo album, titled
Pólvora, a co-production with the Spanish musician Carlos Raya and Joe Blaney as soundman. Both albums have proven very successful with Leiva releasing three singles charting singles on the Spanish singles market, and charting in
PROMUSICAE charts, namely "Eme", "Afuera en la ciudad" and "Terriblemente Cruel" the latter two making it to positions 6 and 5 respectively on the Spanish charts. 'Eme' is a song which was dedicated to Michelle Jenner after a tough breakup. The singer express the left of her girlfriend, his feelings and his thoughts, hoping that she would come back. In 2016 Leiva came out with "Monstruos". Is a record in which he explains the monsters the common social fears at bedtime. ==Discography==