Raphael

Spanish pop sensation Rafael Martos, born Miguel Rafael Martos Sánchez and recognized internationally as Raphael, ranks among Spain’s most celebrated vocalists. His expansive multi-octave voice paired with an extravagant stage presence has captivated audiences globally since 1959. He has also built a substantial reputation as an actor in both cinema and television. From his earliest appearances, Raphael cultivated a distinctive performance approach that treats every number as high drama, often donning thematic outfits while incorporating regional folk steps or echoing the gestures of flamenco dancers, sports figures, and matadors. Hispavox, his longtime label, honored the 1982 compilation Ayer, Hoy y Siempre with the sole uranium disc ever conferred, recognizing sales exceeding 50 million copies and rendering further gold and platinum awards impractical after more than 350 of the former and 50 of the latter. More than sixty albums fill his discography, each one charting inside Spain. The 1989 release Maravilloso Corazon achieved platinum status and the top position domestically while also reaching the American Top 20, a feat matched by 2014’s De Amor & Desamor. In 2018 he unveiled the worldwide-charting Resinfonico, on which producer and arranger Lucal Vidal framed his classic material with a symphony orchestra and contemporary electronic elements. Two years later, to mark six decades in music, he delivered Raphael 6.0, a set of previously unrecorded standards performed as duets with Latin stars that included Manuel Carrasco, Pablo Alborán, Mon Laferte, Luis Fonsi, Alejandro Fernández, and Natalia Lafourcade. In 2022 Virgin International issued the conceptual album Victoria, whose ten tracks were written by producer, arranger, and bassist Pablo López after extended discussions with the singer about his personal history.

Born in 1943, Raphael claimed first prize at a children’s festival at age nine, prevailing over entrants from across Europe. He represented Spain at Eurovision in 1966 with “Yo Soy Aquel” and returned the next year with “Hablemos del Amor.” Popularity soon spread to the Americas, leading to an engagement at New York’s Madison Square Garden. His film career began in 1962 with a role in Antonio de Amo’s Te Voy a Contar Mi Vida; three years later he starred in Cuando Tú No Estás. A lifelong commitment to multilingual performance has seen him record and sing in English, French, Italian, and Japanese while appearing at landmark halls that encompass New York’s Carnegie Hall, Paris’ Olympia, Moscow’s Bolshoi, and Sydney’s Opera House. The uranium-certified Ayer, Hoy y Siempre arrived in 1982; the double-disc retrospective that moved 50 million copies encompassed nearly every hit single and favored album track up to that point, confirming Raphael as Spain’s preeminent star whose sold-out concerts and nearly 100 million units moved placed him at the pinnacle of the market.

He marked his 25th anniversary in 1987 by assembling 114,000 fans at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. In 1998 he issued the 569-page memoir ¿Y Mañana Qué? In 2000 he performed for seven months in the Spanish production of the musical Jekyll & Hyde to considerable acclaim. A severe case of hepatitis B in 2003 necessitated a liver transplant; he recovered fully and has since championed organ donation. Throughout the 2000s and into the early 2010s he recorded for Sony, scoring a chart success with 2012’s El Reencuentro, which supported a world tour and yielded the 2013 live document El Reencuentro: En Directo Teatro de la Zarzuela. He switched to Universal for 2014’s De Amor & Desamor, followed the next year by Sinphónico, an orchestral treatment of his repertoire, and the holiday collection Ven a Mi Casa Esta Navidad. That same year he returned to the screen after nearly four decades in Álex de la Iglesia’s Mi Gran Noche, earning a Goya Award for best actor at the Latin Beat Film Festival. In 2016 he released the studio album Infinitos Bailes, whose songs were supplied by a roster of Spanish songwriters that included Enrique Bunbury, Dani Martín, Galician Iván Ferreiro, and Pablo López. The Rama Lama label began a chronological reissue series in 2017 with Vol. 1: Sus Tres Primeros Álbumes Con Hispavox (1965-1967) and Vol. 2: Sus Primeras Grabaciones en Discos Philips y Barclay (1962-1963). Resinphónico appeared the following year; again produced and arranged by Lucal Vidal, the project presented both familiar and lesser-known songs in symphonic settings augmented by electronic beats, atmospheric textures, and intricate charts, after which Raphael embarked on a two-year world tour. In November 2020 he issued 6.0, featuring thirteen long-admired yet previously unrecorded songs performed with an array of guests that included Manuel Carrasco, Luis Fonsi, Gloria Trevi, Alejandro Fernández, Mon Laferte, Omara Portuondo, Pablo Alborán, Mikel Izal, and Luciano Pereyra, plus two numbers co-written and sung with Pablo López and Natalia Lafourcade. The lone solo track, “Resistre,” served as the lead single; the album reached the Top 15 on the U.S. Latin Pop chart, registered strongly across Europe and Latin America, and placed inside the Top Five at Latin streaming. In 2022 he released the conceptual studio offering Victoria for Virgin International. Its ten songs were all composed by producer, arranger, and bassist Pablo López; they were drawn from long conversations with the singer about his life and experiences. The album was recorded with Raphael’s road band that included vocalist Laura Rubio and with the London Metropolitan Orchestra conducted by Andy Brown.