Gabito Ballesteros

Gabriel "Gabito" Ballesteros Abril (born 23 July 1999) is a Mexican singer-songwriter and record producer. He is considered one of the rising acts in the ''corridos tumbados'' movement, following in the footsteps of artists such as Peso Pluma, Natanael Cano, and Junior H. He is best known for collaborating with these artists on singles such as " AMG" in 2022 and "Lady Gaga" in 2023, both of which charted on the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached number 1 in Mexico. Ballesteros also collaborated with Becky G in the 2023 single, "La Nena".

Early life

Gabito Ballesteros Abril was born on 23 July 1999 in Cumpas, Sonora, to Gabriel Ballesteros Guzmán and Mónica Abril Medina, both from Cumpas. He has two sisters. At the age of eight, Ballesteros was taught to play guitar by his mother and he began playing in a choir at the local Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe church. When he was nine, he joined a children's mariachi band formed by the priest that played at religious celebrations in town. Ballesteros soon learned to play other instruments such as the trumpet, violin, and vihuela, but was chosen as the group's lead vocalist after a rendition of " El Rey". He led the group to local notoriety as they began playing at a wide variety of events in the region.

Ballesteros attended the Escuela Secundaria Prof. Rafael N. Varela for secondary school and won first place in many musical competitions. At the age of 14, he took a music course in Hermosillo over the summer, which motivated him to begin uploading covers to Facebook and YouTube. Ballesteros also learned to play bass guitar from the parish priest and formed part of a group called ''Diamante Norteño''. He has stated that he drew inspiration from artists such as Joan Sebastian, Remmy Valenzuela, and Julión Álvarez.

Career

Ballesteros first went viral when his cover of the song "Apagaré La Luz" was reposted by the original artist, Hermanos Vega Jr. In September 2014, he performed alongside Apache Nueva Imagen at the Tucson Expo Center in Tucson, Arizona. Ballesteros also joined on stage at another event. The following month, he signed a deal with No Name Records and New Generation Music. Ballesteros recorded professionally for the first time in January 2015. Soon thereafter he released his debut single, "Yo Quiero Ser" featuring La Destructiva Norteño Banda, which received some regional airplay. However, he decided to put a pause on his musical career in order to fulfill his parents' wishes and pursue his education, as he later explained in an interview with ''Billboard''; Ballesteros earned his degree in industrial engineering in 2022. During this time, he developed a friendship with Natanael Cano and eventually signed to his record label, Los CT.

Ballesteros released his second single, a collaboration with Aldo Trujillo titled "El Rompecabezas", in August 2020, followed by a solo single, "Fuentes de Ortiz", the following month. In March 2022, he released his breakout single, "El Chamán". The song, which he co-produced with José Ángel Félix, surpassed three million streams on Spotify within a few weeks of its release. Ballesteros followed this with a single titled "El Sereno" in May. He then collaborated with Junior H on the single "Vamos Para Arriba" in June, followed by a duet with Iván Orozco titled "El Piquetito" in July. In early November, Ballesteros released "Y Si Me Miran", a collaboration with Natanael Cano and Luis R. Conriquez.

On 24 November 2022, Ballesteros collaborated with Natanael Cano and Peso Pluma to release " AMG", a single named after the Mercedes-AMG G 63. A music video was uploaded to Cano's YouTube channel the next day featuring the trio partying in the Mexican city nightlife, splicing in between footage of Mexican brass players. "AMG" was Ballesteros' first entry in ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs, debuting at number 41 on the week dated 10 December. It also debuted at number 25 on Mexico Songs the next week. "AMG" climbed to number 10 in Mexico Songs on the chart dated 14 January 2023, becoming Ballesteros' first top-ten hit, before reaching number 3 the following week. He earned his second entry in Hot Latin Songs when "Vamos Para Arriba" appeared at number 32 on the chart dated 28 January. With 5.8 million US streams, "AMG" debuted at number 92 in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart ending on 4 February, marking the singer's first Hot 100 entry of his career. It also rose to number 10 in Hot Latin Songs, becoming his first top-ten hit on that chart. "AMG" later surged to number one on the Mexico Songs chart and peaked at number 6 in Hot Latin Songs on 25 February. The song later peaked at number 37 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 list in May.

On 13 January 2023, Ballesteros released a solo single titled "Puro Pa' Delante". The following month, he released a collaboration with Calle 24 titled "Dante", followed by a collaboration with Fuerza Regida, "Vete Ya", two days later. The latter received six million streams in two weeks. A week after that, Ballesteros released a collaboration with Miguel Cornejo titled "La Bolsa Gucci", which was streamed 15 million times in two weeks. In early March, Ballesteros collaborated with Junior H for a second time to release a single titled "Ya Corazón", which was streamed 25 million times in the first two weeks. The song peaked at number 28 on the Mexico Songs chart.

He joined Natanael Cano on his ''Tumbado Tour'' in 2023.

He was named the ''Billboard'' Latin Artist on the Rise for July 2023.

In December 2023, he signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music (WCM). "Gabito is shaping the future of Latin music by blending traditional Mexican rhythms with modern melodies and production," said Gustavo Menéndez, president of the WCM U.S. Latin & Latin America division. "His talent has reminded us that music and songwriting are universal, and we’re so proud to partner with him as he continues to cement his place as one of Latin’s top acts."

In January 2024, Ballesteros was included in ''Billboard's'' "15 Latin & Spanish Artists to Watch in 2024" list.

Ballesteros released his debut full-length album '' The GB'' on May 23, 2024.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

* ''Levemente En Vivo desde Hermosillo'' (2020)
* ''De Mis Favoritas (En Vivo) Vol. 1'' (2021)
* ''SS23'' (with Remmy Valenzuela) (2023)

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Guest appearances

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballesteros, Gabito
1999 births
Living people
21st-century Mexican male singers
Latin music songwriters
Mexican male singer-songwriters
Regional Mexican musicians
Mexican record producers
Mexican Catholics
People from Cumpas
Singers from Sonora