Manuel Turizo

Manuel Turizo grew up in the Colombian coastal town of Montería and began making music at age thirteen.[2] In 2000, when Turizo was born, his parents had gifted a guitar and microphone to his older brother, Julian—who was only two at the time—so he would "…not get jealous" of the attention they would be giving to the newborn Manuel.[3] Years later, Turizo attempted to learn to play his brother's guitar, but felt he did not have the aptitude for it, and thus began developing his singing voice.[3] His original goal was to be a veterinarian, but he decided to pursue music after singing lessons with a Cuban music teacher.[4] As a child, Turizo would practice vocals by singing along to his favorite songs, while his brother accompanied him on vocal harmonies, guitar and ukulele. Later, he began writing songs more consistently, while his brother was away earning his post-graduate degree in Medellín.[3]

He is best known for his hit single "Una Lady Como Tú" (2016), which granted him widespread popularity in Latin America;[5][6] the music video for the song has, as of June 2020, received over 1.4 billion views on YouTube.[7] Within a year of its release, "Una Lady Como Tú" was streamed more than 235 million times on Spotify.[8] This hit was followed by "Bésame" (2017) on which he collaborated with Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Valentino.[9] The success of these singles led Billboard to include Turizo in the magazine's list of "10 Latin Artists To Watch in 2018".[8]

In September 2018, Turizo achieved his first Billboard Hot 100-charting hit with his collaboration with Ozuna on the single "Vaina Loca".[10] The song peaked at number 94 and stayed on the chart for two weeks.[10] In October 2018, he collaborated with Mau y Ricky on the single "Desconocidos".[11] In March 2019, his song "Sola" became first number one song on the Billboard Latin Airplay chart.[12] He released his debut album, ADN on August 23, 2019, which featured collaborations with Zion & Lennox, Noriel, Ozuna, Darell, Nicky Jam, Sech, and Anuel AA.[12] ADN peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot Latin Albums chart.[13] In September 2019, Turizo was named as the first Latin "global priority artist" by the French streaming service Deezer.[14] He performed a virtual concert with Billboard on March 25, 2020, while in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic to raise money for the non-profit organization MusiCares.[15] The concert consisted of a cappella renditions of the songs "Una Lady Como Tú" and "Déjala Que Vuelva".[15]