Isabel Pantoja

María Isabel Pantoja Martín (Seville; August 2, 1956) is a Spanish singer. Recognized as one of the most important Spanish singers, she has published twenty-eight albums and sold thirty million records. For her sales, she has obtained one hundred and fifty platinum records and fifty gold records in album sales, three platinum records in DVD sales and an Art Record awarded in Puerto Rico in 2023.

She began her career in the early seventies and achieved international fame in 1985, with the album Marinero de luzes, dedicated entirely to the bullfighter Francisco Rivera, with whom she was married for just over a year., due to his tragic death in 1984. Since then, his presence in the media in Spain and Latin America has been continuous and, at times, complicated. She & # 34; La Pantoja & # 34; she, as she is usually called, is one of the most media artists in her country and most famous in Latin America.

Biography

Isabel Pantoja was born on August 2, 1956 at 8 Juan Díaz de Solís Street, in the Triana neighborhood of the Spanish city of Seville. Her parents were Juan Pantoja Cortés (1922-July 16, 1974), fandango lyricist belonging to the trio Los Gaditanos, and Ana María Martín Villegas (May 22, 1931 - September 28, 2021), dancer in the companies of Pepe Pinto and Juanita Reina. Her brother Agustín Pantoja was also a singer between the 80s and 90s and her brother Juan Antonio has served as her guitarist in many performances. He had another brother named Bernardo (Seville, 1953 - November 25, 2022), who did not dedicate himself to the artistic world (although he was his driver for a time), but instead his niece Anabel, who has been her aunt's personal assistant since for a few years and works on television tabloid programs. Isabel's paternal grandfather was the singer Antonio Pantoja Jiménez (died December 9, 1977), initially nicknamed Pipoño de Jerez and later Chiquetete Padre. Isabel's maternal grandfather was a well-known greengrocer in the Seville Market, nicknamed El letchuga.

She was married to the bullfighter Francisco Rivera, popularly known as Paquirri, until his death. She also had a romantic relationship first with the businessman Diego Gómez until 2003 and later with the Spanish politician and former mayor of Marbella, Julián Muñoz. She has two children, Francisco José Rivera Pantoja (Seville, February 9, 1984), fruit of her marriage to Francisco Rivera, and María Isabel Pantoja Martín (Cuzco, Peru, November 8, 1995), adopted in 1996..

His son Kiko gave him a grandson, Francisco Rivera Bueno (Seville, November 6, 2012), born from his relationship with the model Jessica Bueno Álvarez; On December 15, 2015, he gave him a granddaughter: Ana Rivera Rosales (born in Castilleja de la Cuesta (Seville)) from his relationship with his current wife Irene Rosales Vázquez, and on January 30, 2018, they both gave him his fourth granddaughter, Carlota Rivera Rosales (born in Castilleja de la Cuesta (Seville)). Her daughter María Isabel gave her another grandson: Alberto Isla Pantoja (Málaga, March 7, 2014), from her relationship with her partner Alberto Isla Cuadrado.

Isabel Pantoja has also been a regular figure in the tabloid and gossip circles, in her circle of close friends with other celebrities such as the Mexican singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel. Said tabloid press has linked her to the singer María del Monte, godmother of her daughter María Isabel.

In 2007 she was involved in the Malaya Case, an operation against corruption in the city of Marbella. On November 21, 2014, she entered prison to serve a two-year prison sentence, after being found guilty of a money laundering crime. On December 4, 2015 she was granted the third degree. On October 28, 2016 she was granted freedom.

This year 2023, his infatuation with his colleague and also artist Alberto Aguilera Valadez "Juan Gabriel" Since it was announced that they had a small romantic relationship, although the dates were not yet confirmed.

Artistic career

First successes

Isabel soon formed her own company and for years she cultivated the copla, a genre in decline at that time and whose public interest she managed to revive. From that time are songs like "The Green Bird", "Garlochí" or "The young man". In 1983 her first pop music album came to light: Cambiar por ti , composed by Paco Cepero with songs such as & # 34; In the fog & # 34; or "Nothing", in addition to the one that gave the album its title. Since that moment, Isabel Pantoja has alternated ballads and romantic songs with copla; with which it has sold approximately 30 million copies.^{[citation required]}

Marriage and widowhood

On April 30, 1983, Isabel married the bullfighter Francisco Rivera Pérez, known as Paquirri, in the Basílica del Gran Poder in Seville.

The death of Paquirri on September 26, 1984, gored in the Pozoblanco bullring, had great repercussions in the country. Isabel became "the widow of Spain". The tabloid press catapulted her as the most persecuted character of hers, especially when she was grieving for her in her seclusion.

After a prolonged silence, he reappeared on the record market in 1985 with the album Marinero de luzes, composed by José Luis Perales, which achieved commercial success with one million two hundred and eighty thousand copies sold in Spain..^{[citation required]}

New rhythms

In 1988 it was followed by From Andalusia, a work by the Mexican author and singer Juan Gabriel. They are songs with a very different rhythm and style from Sailor of lights. Songs like "Make me yours once more", "How many more days" and, especially, "That's how it was" (with his famous phrase «Don't cling, don't cling to an impossible») were played in a large number of concerts in Spain and in several countries in America.

In 1989 he released the album Se me amor el alma; with more modern rhythms and that were also written by Perales. Later came Wounded Heart (1992) and From Nobody (1993).

Film debut: I am that one (1990)

In 1990 he starred in the film Yo soy esa, along with José Coronado and Loles León and directed by Luis Sanz. Sanz was a great connoisseur of the world of entertainment and copla and had decisively influenced the artistic careers of figures such as Rocío Dúrcal, Rocío Jurado and Pastora Soler. All of her songs, great hits from the copla of her predecessors, were collected along with some others in a double album titled The Spanish Song that Isabel recorded together with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Luis Cobos.

A year later he returned to the cinema with El día que nací yo, directed this time by Pedro Olea and starring alongside Arturo Fernández and Joaquim de Almeida.

Releases

With a very extensive record production, more than 20 albums published, Isabel Pantoja performed numerous galas throughout Spain and Latin America. In April 2005, the musical duo Pumpin' Dolls produced an atypical album that consisted of dance remixes of the singer's most famous songs. That same year, Isabel Pantoja also published a CD+DVD titled Sinfonia de la copla, the live recording of a recital given at the Palace of Catalan Music in Barcelona, culminating with it a concert tour throughout Spain throughout that same year.

Chimes 2011-2012

Isabel was chosen, along with her son Kiko Rivera and the presenter Jorge Javier Vázquez, to broadcast the chimes of New Year's Eve 2011-2012 live from the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, as a result of the recent contractual relationship between the singer and Mediaset Spain. The chimes were the most followed in the history of private channels.^{[citation needed]}

Reappearance in 2016

In the fall of 2013, a year before her imprisonment for tax crimes, Isabel Pantoja discreetly recorded a new album of songs (titled Hasta que se apague el sol) with the collaboration of Juan Gabriel. Shortly before, in August of that year, she participated in a historic recital by the Mexican idol singing & # 34; Así fue & # 34; in an expressive waste, with a lot of feeling which makes this song her classic.^{[citation required]}

Isabel Pantoja's latest album with Juan Gabriel has remained unreleased for three years, being promoted in November 2016, coinciding with Isabel's reappearance on stage after leaving prison, and months after the death of the Mexican singer-songwriter on August 28, 2016.

2017

On Wednesday, February 22, he performed for the first time in Chile, at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival, where he won the Silver Gaviota, the Golden Gaviota and, especially, the Platinum Gaviota from the hand of the mayor of Viña del Mar, Virginia Reginato. And on March 1 she returns to Peru, after 20 years of absence, where she offers a symphonic concert at the Jockey Club del Perú in the city of Lima before 16,000 people.

2018

On February 1, 2018, he spoke at length to the media, giving his opinion on the criticism he had received in recent years. In this same month, it was learned that his tour in America had been canceled due to problems related to the visa.

On September 14, 2018, Isabel Pantoja called her former friend Chelo García Cortés' cell phone by surprise to give a statement to the program Sálvame while it was broadcast live. In a historic intervention that would last approximately one hour and 15 minutes, she spoke about her daughter and her former employee of her home (Dulce Delapiedra), in addition to discussing other topics related to the program's collaborators. That moment was the most watched of the day on television, reaching 5 million viewers during the call. Likewise, on the 21st she called again to address the same topics.

2019

On April 9, his return to Mediaset España with a long-term contract was announced. Her first job will be to be a contestant on Survivors.

In December of the same year, the singer published the cover of what would be her new single on her social networks with an unrecognizable appearance. She later posted her new single on her Instagram as a Christmas gift to her fans. The single was composed by the late Juan Gabriel and produced by José Luis Cobos.

2020-2022

On February 14, she releases her new single "Enamórate" to all digital platforms and its video clip to YouTube with a modernized look and dressed in a sequined dress. This video clip takes place, filmed in a wonderful theater in the purest New York style.. In addition, she winks at her fans of the LGTBI collective by surrounding herself with drag queens simulating an orchestra. With this single she returns to music after 4 years without releasing something new.

On March 6 he returned to the stage to present his new single "Enamórate", as well as all the songs that have accompanied him during his musical career. The concert was held at the WiZink Center in Madrid, a concert that would serve as the opening for Isabel Pantoja's new musical tour: her Enamórate tour, which had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.. At the end of 2020, Isabel would release an album of covers called Canciones que me gusta. Isabel Pantoja returned to television as coach for two talent-show programs on Telecinco. She finally returned to the stage in one of the postponed concerts in Jerez de la Frontera during August 2021, at the Tío Pepe Festival . In June 2022 she returned with the Enamórate de ella Tour to several Latin American countries and announced dates in the USA. During Madrid Pride, she was awarded the Mr. Gay 2022 award, where Isabel exclaimed: "I am one of you, your pride is my pride", during a massive gala in the Plaza de Colón in Madrid.

Malaya Case

In 2007, Pantoja was involved in the scandal of the so-called Malaya Case, the name given to an operation against urban corruption in Spain committed by some leaders of the Marbella City Council (Málaga) and various businessmen and lawyers. Her romantic partner, Julián Muñoz, former mayor of that town, was one of the main defendants.

On May 2, 2007, Isabel Pantoja was arrested accused of committing several crimes against public finances and money laundering. Judge Miguel Ángel Torres, investigator of the Malaya Case and head of the investigative court number five of Marbella, decreed freedom on bail of 90,000 euros for the tonadillera after a few hours of arrest at the police station.

The investigation into the singer had a great impact on Spanish society, even in the field of politics, and was even commented on by the then spokesperson for the PP in Congress Eduardo Zaplana.

On April 16, 2013, she was sentenced to 24 months in prison for money laundering, and had to pay a fine of 1,147,000 euros with her assets. In October 2014, it was reported that Pantoja would foreseeably pay the fine imposed. by the Malaga Court to later be able to request the suspension of his imprisonment. However, after paying only 100,000 euros, he unsuccessfully requested the suspension of his sentence and payment of the fine in several installments.

Given the refusal of the Prosecutor's Office, on November 21, 2014, he entered the Alcalá de Guadaíra prison to serve a two-year prison sentence for money laundering.

On December 4, 2015, he obtained the third degree of semi-freedom.

On March 2, 2016, he was granted conditional freedom, which allows him not to return to prison and to travel throughout Spanish territory under the control of penitentiary social services. This allows him to prepare for a planned reappearance on stage. for the end of 2016, coinciding with the publication of the album of songs Hasta que se apaque el sol that he recorded with the Mexican Juan Gabriel in 2013, before entering prison, and which has remained unpublished since then.

On October 28, 2016, his sentence for money laundering expired, so he resumed his artistic career.

Discography

Studio Albums

• Isabel Pantoja (1974)
• Tell him and tell him (1975)
• Isabel Pantoja (1977)
• Girl Isabela (1978)
• 22 April I have (1979)
• Almon (1981)
• Lover... lover (1981)
• Long live!
• Change for you (1983)
• Light Mariner (1985)
• From Andalusia (1988)
• I love the soul (1989)
• The Spanish Song (1990)
• Heart wounded (1992)
• Nobody (1993)
• Eternal Love (1996)
• Isabel Pantoja (1998)
• To your vera (1999)
• Where the heart rains me (2002)
• My Flemish Christmas (2003)
• Good luck (2004)
• My Christmas Song (2005)
• 10 Boleros and a love song (2006)
• Isabel Pantoja (AKA The Meeting)
• Until the sun goes off (2016)
• Songs I like (2020)

Live Albums

• Copla Symphony (2005)
• In his own way (2012)

Filmography

Cinema

TV series

TV shows

In fiction