Dani Martin

Dani Martín first rose to fame fronting El Canto del Loco, the powerhouse pop outfit that dominated Spain’s charts for years, yet he later confirmed his solo viability after balancing recording sessions with a string of well-received film and television parts. Born Daniel Martín Garcia in Madrid in 1977, he amused relatives throughout childhood by mimicking the vocalists he admired most and earned an early break at fourteen when TVE invited him onto Rock Out. Following studies at the Cristina Rota and William Layton drama schools, he joined forces with guitarist Iván Ganchegui in 1994 to launch El Canto del Loco; after several personnel shifts the band issued its self-titled debut in 2000. Over the next six years the group established itself as one of Spain’s leading pop-rock acts, notching four consecutive number-one albums—A Contracorriente (2002), Estados de Ánimo (2003), Zapatillas (2005), and Personas (2008).

While those records climbed the charts, Martín kept his acting career alive, taking roles in the gay-themed comedy I Love You Baby, Bigas Luna’s Yo Soy la Juani, and Pedro Almodóvar’s Broken Embraces, as well as appearing in the television series Hospital Central, Four Countdown, and Los Hombres de Paco. When El Canto del Loco announced a break in 2009, Martín turned to producer Bori Alarcón for his first solo project. The resulting 2010 album Pequeño emerged as an intensely personal statement shaped by the loss of his sister; it topped the Spanish chart and remained on the listings for more than eighteen months. Three years of work produced the follow-up, Dani Martín, which held the number-one spot in Spain for four weeks and registered on the charts in both Mexico and Italy. Extensive touring filled most of 2014 and led to the October release of the live set Mi Teatro. In 2016 Martín returned with La Montaña Rusa; buoyed by the hit single “Las Ganas,” the record again reached the top of the Spanish album chart.