Rosalía

Rosalía (born September 25, 1992, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain) is a Spanish singer and songwriter known for popularizing flamenco for a contemporary audience. A classically trained flamenco singer, she rose to international prominence with her second album, El mal querer (2018; “The Bad Desire”), and is noted for her exploration of a variety of music genres, including rhythm and blues (R&B), reggaeton, cumbia (a type of Latin folk music that originated in Colombia), and classical. Her multilingual release Lux (2025) became the most-streamed album by a female Spanish-language recording artist in history. It also snagged a Latin Grammy for album of the year, making Rosalía the first woman to win that honor three times.

Early life and career

Rosalía was born and raised near Barcelona, in the Catalonia region of Spain, in a Roman Catholic family. She developed an interest in flamenco when she was 13 years old, after discovering the music of famed flamenco singer Camarón de la Isla. She began taking flamenco dancing lessons and singing at local performances. In 2007, at age 15, she auditioned for a Barcelona-based talent competition in hopes of breaking into the music industry; she made it to the finals but ultimately lost the contest. She then enrolled in a Barcelona music school, where she developed her soprano singing voice, and later studied in Catalonia College of Music’s prestigious flamenco program, which typically accepts only one student a year. She graduated in 2017.

Her first album, Los ángeles (2017; “The Angels”), was released under the Universal label and features interpretations of traditional flamenco songs with primarily acoustic guitar and vocals. It received critical acclaim, with multiple Spanish newspapers and music magazines naming it one of the best albums of the year. At the 2017 Latin Grammy Awards, Rosalía scored a nomination for best new artist.

Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors.

SIGN UP

By clicking “Sign Up”, you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

In 2018 she followed up with a concept album that had started out as her senior thesis. Titled El mal querer, the album is organized into chapters and is based on Flamenca, a 13th-century Provençal epic poem about a woman who eludes the vigilance of her jealous husband by ingenious devices. In contrast with the sparse acoustic instrumentation of her debut album, El mal querer features electronic production and combines rhythmic elements from flamenco and R&B. El mal querer earned praise from both Spanish and international critics and appeared on Pitchfork’s and Rolling Stone’s year-end best album lists. It also received several honors, including the award for album of the year at the 2019 Latin Grammys and, in 2020, a traditional Grammy for best Latin rock, urban, or alternative album.

Motomami and Lux

Rosalía released Motomami, her third album, in 2022. Like her earlier work, Motomami showed another dramatic shift in sound, including bachata (a type of dance music from the Dominican Republic featuring guitar and percussion) on the lead single “La Fama”—a collaboration with Canadian singer The Weeknd—and reggaeton on the tracks “Saoko” and “Chicken Teriyaki.” That March she made her solo debut on Saturday Night Live (having previously appeared on the show with Bad Bunny). Motomami was Rosalía’s first album to land on the Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number 33, and in 2023 it won the Grammy for best Latin rock or alternative album.

In 2025 she released Lux (Latin: “Light”), her most successful album to date. Divided into four sections, Lux explores topics such as religion, marriage, and death. In an interview with Billboard magazine, Rosalía said that each song on the record was inspired by the life of a saint or holy woman; for example, “La Yugular” was inspired by Rābiʿah al-ʿAdawīyah, who is considered the first female saint in Sufism. To give the album a lush operatic and classical sound, Rosalía collaborated with the London Symphony Orchestra; the dramatic lead single, “Berghain,” blends her coloratura-like singing with vocals by Björk and Yves Tumor. In addition to Spanish and English, Lux features lyrics in more than 10 languages, including German (“Berghain”), Japanese (“Porcelana”), and Italian (“Mio Cristo”). In an interview with the podcast Popcast, Rosalía said that she wrote her lyrics in Google Translate and then worked with translators and language teachers to help develop her rhyme schemes and pronunciation. The album debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, at number four.

In 2026 Rosalía won International Artist of the Year at the Brit Awards, where her full-throttled performance of “Berghain” was one of the event’s highlights. Later that year she received four Latin Grammys, including album of the year for Lux.

Explore Britannica Premium!

The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.

SUBSCRIBE

Other ventures and personal life

Rosalía made her acting debut in Pedro Almodóvar’s 2019 film Dolor y gloria (Pain and Glory), starring Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz. In 2026 Rosalía appeared in season three of the HBO coming-of-age TV drama Euphoria (2019–26).

In 2019 Rosalía briefly dated actress Hunter Schafer. In March 2023 she announced her engagement to singer Rauw Alejandro, but the couple ended their engagement several months later. She subsequently dated actor Jeremy Allen White and was linked with actor and musician Emilio Sakraya.