María Isabel Pantoja Martín (; born August 2, 1956) is a Spanish singer. She was born in the Triana district of

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, Spain. She has released more than a dozen albums throughout a career spanning many decades, mostly of '' copla'' genre, and is known for her distinctive

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

n style.

Biography

She was born in a

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

family of musicians. Both her father and grandfather were singers. Pantoja began performing precociously at the age of seven in the flamenco ensemble of her cousin Chiquetete. At 17 she met her "maestro" Juan Solano Pedrero, who wrote her first hits along with writer and poet Rafael de León. Pantoja cultivated copla, a genre in decline at the moment that she popularised again. Some of her early hits were "El Pájaro Verde", "Garlochí" or "El Señorito". In 1983 she released her first pop album, ''Cambiar por ti'', which included the same-title song, "En la Niebla", or "Nada". From that moment, Pantoja alternated ballads and romantic songs with copla. On April 30, 1983, she married bullfighter Francisco Rivera Pérez "Paquirri"; the wedding was widely covered by the Spanish media as they were both popular and successful and they embodied a romantic Spain stereotype of the bullfighter and the ''" tonadillera"''. On September 26, 1984, he died in the bullring; Pantoja became known as "Spain's widow" in the media and a regular cover on

gossip magazine A gossip magazine, also referred to as a tabloid magazine, is a magazine that features scandalous stories about the personal lives of celebrities and other well-known individuals. In North America, this genre of magazine flourished in the 1950s ...

s. After a prolonged hiatus, she released the album ''Marinero de Luces'', composed by

José Luis Perales José Luis Perales Morillas (born 18 January 1945) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and producer. He has recorded 27 albums and 30 million copies sold worldwide. His compositions have been recorded by singers such as Vikki Carr, Bertín Osb ...

, that sold one million copies in Spain. In 1988, she released '' Desde Andalucía'', an album produced by Mexican singer and songwriter

Juan Gabriel Alberto Aguilera Valadez (; 7 January 1950 – 28 August 2016), known professionally as Juan Gabriel (), was a Mexican singer-songwriter and actor. Colloquially Honorific nicknames in popular music, nicknamed Juanga () and El Divo de Juárez, ...

. In 1989 she released ''Se me enamora el alma'', her most commercial album, with modern programmed beats, composed by Perales. In 1990, Pantoja starred in the film ''Yo soy ésa'', alongside José Coronado and

Loles León María Dolores León Rodríguez (born 1 August 1950), better known as Loles León, is a Spanish actress. Career León travelled to Madrid to start a career as an actress, where she met Pedro Almodóvar during La Movida Madrileña. She has pla ...

, directed by Luis Sanz. A year later, she starred in another film, ''El día que nací yo'', directed by

Pedro Olea Pedro Olea (30 June 1938, Bilbao) is a Spanish screenwriter, film producer and film director. His films '' A House Without Boundaries'' (1972) and '' Akelarre'' (1984) entered into the 22nd and the 34th Berlin International Film Festival. His ...

, alongside Arturo Fernández and Joaquim de Almeida. Pantoja has released more than a dozen albums and has toured Spain and Latin America extensively over the years.

Family life

Her husband, the bullfighter Francisco Rivera Pérez, known professionally as "

Paquirri Francisco Rivera Pérez (; 5 March 1948 – 26 September 1984), better known as Paquirri (), was a Spanish bullfighter. He died after being gored by a Spanish Fighting Bull, bull named Avispado at the Pozoblanco bullring. During his career, he ...

", died at the age of 36 in the bullring on September 26, 1984, at the horns of the bull ''Avispado'' in

Pozoblanco Pozoblanco () is a town in the Córdoba Province, Spain, province of Córdoba, southern Spain, in the north-central part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located near the headwaters of the Guadamatil ...

, Córdoba. Isabel Pantoja and "Paquirri" had a son named Francisco José Rivera Pantoja (born February 9, 1984, in

), better known as Kiko Rivera or "Paquirrín" by the press. Pantoja has another daughter, named like herself María Isabel Pantoja Martín (born November 8, 1995, in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

), whom she adopted in 1996, and who is better known as Isa Pantoja or "Chabelita" by the press. Both her children are television personalities who have participated in

reality shows Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

Legal problems

Pantoja was arrested in April 2013 by the

Spanish police Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine ** Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

. She was allegedly an accomplice for her ex-boyfriend,

Julián Muñoz Julián Felipe Muñoz Palomo (; 24 November 1947 – 24 September 2024) was a Spanish politician, known for his controversial tenure as mayor of Marbella and for having been the sentimental partner of singer Isabel Pantoja. Life and career Mu� ...

, who had been accused of

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

and bribery (among other criminal activities) while he was mayor of

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...

. Pantoja was found guilty and sentenced to a 24-month prison term. She ultimately would agree to pay nearly €4.0 million, and entered a plea to avoid the jail time. However, on 3 November 2014, in a turn of events, the jury in

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

denied Pantoja’s plea and the proposed payment plan, instead sentencing her to be incarcerated immediately, or within three days of the verdict being announced. The trial, and Pantoja's subsequent imprisonment, were widely covered by Spanish and Latin American media, becoming huge international news. She only served around 15 months, however, as she was released from custody on 10 February 2016.

Discography

* 1974 – ''Fue por tu voz'' * 1975 – ''Que dile y dile'' * 1976 – ''Niña Isabela'' * 1978 – ''Y no estaba muerto, no, no'' * 1979 – ''22 abriles tengo'' * 1981 – ''Al Alimón'' * 1981 – ''Amante, amante'' * 1982 – ''¡Viva Triana!'' * 1983 – ''Cambiar por ti'' * 1985 – ''Marinero de luces'' * 1987 – ''Tú serás mi Navidad'' * 1988 – '' Desde Andalucía'' * 1989 – ''Se me enamora el alma'' * 1990 – ''La canción española'' * 1992 – ''Corazón herido'' * 1993 – ''De nadie'' * 1996 – ''Amor eterno'' * 1998 – ''Veneno'' * 1999 – ''A tu vera'' * 2002 – ''Donde el corazón me lleve'' * 2003 – ''Soy como soy: grandes éxitos'' * 2003 – ''Mi Navidad flamenca'' * 2004 – ''Buena suerte'' * 2005 – ''By Pumpin' Dolls'' * 2005 – ''Sinfonía de la copla'' * 2005 – ''Mi canción de Navidad'' * 2006 – ''10 boleros y una canción de amor'' * 2010 – ''Isabel Pantoja'' (Spanish title) / ''Encuentro'' (Latin American title) * 2016 – ''Hasta que se apague el sol'' * 2020 - ''Canciones que me gustan''

Filmography

* 1990: ''Yo soy ésa'' * 1991: ''El día que nací yo''

Television

References

External links

Official site in Spanish and English
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pantoja, Isabel 1956 births Living people Musicians from Seville Romani women singers Spanish Romani people Spanish women singers Singers from Andalusia People convicted of money laundering Prisoners and detainees of Spain Spanish prisoners and detainees Women in Latin music