Yahir

Yahir first drew notice from audiences through his run as a contestant on the Mexican talent competition La Academia. The singer, born Yahir Othón Parra, discovered his voice in childhood and performed alongside mariachi ensembles by the age of eight. His stint on La Academia, widely viewed as Mexico’s counterpart to American Idol, thrust him into the spotlight and yielded both his self-titled 2003 debut album and roles in three widely watched Mexican telenovelas. The following year he issued his second studio effort, Otra Historia de Amor, which achieved immediate commercial dominance across Mexico by moving 50,000 units within forty-eight hours and later earning triple-platinum certification. Over the ensuing ten years Yahir sustained his momentum, delivering the studio albums Con el Alma Entre las Manos in 2006 and Elemental in 2009, the 2007 greatest-hits package Recuerdos, and a pair of tribute projects: the 2005 collection No Te Apartes de Mi, which honored Brazilian singer-songwriter Roberto Carlos, and the 2012 set Sexto, which saluted ’80s balladeer Camilo Sesto. In that same year he returned to La Academia, this time serving as a judge on the program that had launched his career.