Miles de Estrellas

ROSA LÓPEZ BIOGRAPHY

Rosa María López Cortés was born on January 14, 1981 in Peñuelas, Granada, Spain, the daughter of Eduardo Lopez and Paqui Cortés, and she has three brothers: Eduardo, José Octavio and Javier.

Her mother recalls how Rosa, as a tender four-year-old surprised them with a fantastic interpretation of a Mexican ranchera. It was then that her mother had the intuition that her little girl possessed a great potential in her voice. Little by little music was taking hold deep inside Rosa, and at every family celebration she wanted to sing. Her family knew that she had an enormous talent and decided to give all their support in her attempt to break into the music world. Accompanied by her father and her brother Javier at the keyboards, for years she went all around the Andalucian geography as a solo artist or singing with a band. She would sing an ample repertory for many hours at a time, at local festivals, family celebrations, discos and nightclubs wherever she was hired.

For Rosa, her family takes a prominent place in her life. It was precisely her family that encouraged her in the summer of 2001 to sign up for the auditions for the television reality show Operación Triunfo (precursor to American Idol) through which she became known in many countries. Singing was her life and she dreamt of being given an opportunity.

She was voted the favourite week after week, and became the absolute winner of the contest. Finally she began to enjoy that triumph and fulfill many of those dreams: she traveled to New York, in 2002 she represented Spain in Eurovision, Europe’s foremost and most prestigious song festival. She recorded her first solo album, ROSA, which sold over 500,000 copies. She took on two macro concert tours all over Spain - one with her fellow contestants and the other one alone.

From the first moment that Rosa leapt into the musical panorama she stood out for her prodigious voice as well as the solid moral values she brought with her. Her efforts and hard work, along with her humanity, modesty, and charisma, are characteristics that helped her conquer the hearts of millions of fans in Spanish and abroad.

After a pause of several months in her career caused by an inopportune lesion in her vocal chords, she returned to stage on July 3, 2003, with both her voice and magnificent interpretative force, commencing a tour with several of her former companions from the TV show.

Rosa recorded her second solo album at the end of 2003 in the studios of Vale Music. This record, titled AHORA (NOW) is comprised of twelve songs and two bonus tracks, with a wide range of styles: dance, funky, soul, R & B, pop and some ballads. It includes two songs composed by Rosa: “ Ahora sabes como soy” (Now you know what I’m like), written when she fourteen years old; and “Destino” (Destiny), which brought her a Special Mention in the Young Songwriters Competition in Elche, Alicante shortly before her entering the television contest that launched her to fame. She incorporates a version of “ Ausencia” (Albinoni’s Adagio), which has become one of the artist’s most emblematic songs.

In July of 2004, Rosa made her first promotional trip to Latin America. She visited Venezuela, where she was well received. Besides making numerous personal appearances and autographing records, she performed on popular Venezuelan television programs.

Her appearance in the Auditori of Barcelona, closing the tour of concerts, was taped for the making of a DVD, though there was more than a year’s wait till in 2005 Vale Music released the live concert DVD entitled “Rosa in Concert”. It includes the concert, rehearsals, the “making-of”, as well as takes from backstage and a booklet of pictures and interviews made during the tour.

In 2004 Rosa recorded her third album, with Christmas songs, titled OJALÁ (I HOPE), of traditional carols from Spain and more modern songs, sung both in English and in Spanish. She also included an extra – “El Cant dels Ocells” (The Singing of the Birds), sung in catalan.

In the year 2005, Rosa was able to fulfill one of her most long-lasting and deepest dreams: to sing in collaboration with the Blues Band of Granada before a live audience. Once more, the critics raved about the concert as a whole, and in particular, Rosa’s voice was determined by all as perfect for singing the blues and soul music. As she puts it: “Music is not a style, but a state of feeling.”

Due to the great success of that concert of the Blues Band with Rosa as guest artist, the possiblity of organizing a tour took shape; one which has taken them to several cities throughout Andalucia, under the title of "Blues & Friends". The press has praised the shows, pointing out that the group has very good musicians, that Pecos Beck, the soloist, has an extraordinary voice, and that Rosa has a "bluesy soul".

Santiago Segura, a great admirer of Rosa's, asked for her to sing the theme song "The Protector" from the original soundtrack for his movie Torrente 3.

In December 2005 the clothing firm Kanak announced a new campaign supporting ADANER, a foundation which fights against anorexia and bulimia. Rosa participated along with other well-known women who made drawings to be printed on a series of solidarity T-shirts, whose cost was donated entirely to this cause. Rosa’s design was precisely a rose, but without thorns, as she wishes life could be for everybody.

In the middle of February 2006 the third edition of the Strictly Come Dancing contest was presented on TVE. Rosa was one of the contestants who participated with the objective to donate to an NGO in case of winning. She surprised everyone with a more stylish figure and modern look. Thanks to her desire to always do better and her efforts, she learned the most difficult steps - including acrobatics - and showed that she can dance with elegance and rhythm and she was proclaimd the winner. Rosa became the dancing revelation of the season, alternating her presence on the program with the recording of her new album.

Her fourth record was released on May 30th, 2006 under the title of ME SIENTO VIVA (I FEEL ALIVE), since it very well describes that moment of her personal and professional plenitude. This album has been recorded with the collaboration of international producers from Wake Studios in New York and Hitvision Studios in Sweden. It contains 14 songs, many with disco-dance rhythms, some beautiful ballads and two versions of songs in English. The first single, "More" is pop-dance and the promotion is accompanied by a video clip where we are shown a new Rosa, daring and sensual. Her Me Siento Viva Tour took her to many cities in Spain throughout 2006 and the summer of 2007, totaling more than 60 live concerts.

The World Roller Skating Championships, celebrated in Murcia in December 2006 had Rosa as their image and she recorded the official theme song for the opening and closing ceremonies.

In these years since Rosa became a famous singer, she has participated in the publicity world, being the image for different products and companies: New World, jewelry, Kanak, large sizes clothing, Odin Computers, XLS, diet complements, Coviran, a supermarket chain. She has also collaborated in NGO campaigns, such as Down Sindrome, Children’s Homes and No Child without a Toy.

She has received numerous awards and prizes, among others: the ARI 2002, GECA 2003, the Silver Microphone 2003, the Golden Antenna 2006, Record of the Year 2006, the Barreta Prize 2009, the Andalusian Flag 2010 and in 2011, "Friend of the National Police" Prize in Granada.

On March 25, 2008 Rosa suffered the loss of her father, which marked the choice of songs for her next record which she had promised she would record some day. “Promesas” (Promises), produced by Jordi Cristau and released by Universal Vale Music, went on sale October 7th. The album included ten international classics versioned in Spanish – hit songs made famous by Whitney Houston, Michael Bolton, Diana Ross and the Scorpions, among others. Most of the songs were adapted in Spanish by the lyricist Laura Escuadra.

Her latest work, PROPIEDAD DE NADIE (NO ONE’S PROPERTY), released in November 2009, was composed entirely by José Luis Perales for her and taking into consideration her vocal qualities for melodic songs. In this album, which became a Gold Record, Rosa says she feels more sure of the style of music which will define her career path in the future, though she does not discard trying new sounds to continue advancing.

The feeling she puts into every song she interprets, the variety of musical styles she handles so well because of the versatility of her voice and her dancing abilities - are all qualities which assure a promising career for Rosa as an artist with international projection. At present Rosa is included in the list of artists of the Universal Music Spain record company.

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