Raphael

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Biography

Miguel Rafael Martos Sánchez (born May 5, 1943), often simply referred to as Raphael, is a Spanish singer and television, film and theater actor. Raphael is recognized as one of the most successful Spanish singers in the world, having sold more than 70 million records worldwide in 7 languages. Currently, he is considered one of the most active singers of the so-called "divos of the romantic ballad", touring throughout America and Europe, transmitting for 60 years of artistic career, a repertoire full of novelty, for which his oldest songs are being recorded again,thus remastering with modern sounds closer to today's youth.

Raphael was born Miguel Rafael Martos Sánchez in Linares, province of Jaén (Spain). As a consequence, he is nicknamed both "El Ruiseñor de Linares" ("Nightingale of Linares") and "El Divo de Linares" ("The Divo from Linares") but is also known as "El Niño". His family moved to Madrid when he was nine months old, and he started singing when he was just three years-old. He joined a children's choir at age four. When he was 9, he was recognized as the best child voice in Europe at a contest in Salzburg, Austria. His two idols, when he was growing up, and with whom he announced, on October 6, 2014, his plans to record posthumous duets with, were said to be US singer Elvis Presley and French diva Edith Piaf.

Raphael began his professional career by singing with the Dutch record label Philips. To distinguish himself, he adopted the "ph" of the company's name and christened himself 'Raphael'. His first singles were "Te voy a contar mi vida" and "A pesar de todo", among others. Raphael adopted his own peculiar singing style from the beginning; he is known for acting each one of his songs while on stage, emphasizing his gestures with high dramatic effect. It is not unusual for Raphael to ad lib lyrics as to localize a song depending on the venue he's singing at, wear Latin American peasant costumes and dance folk dances within a song, kicking and demolishing a mirror, or doing the moves of a flamenco dancer or a bullfighter onstage. He also possesses a wide vocal range, which he often used in the beginning of his career as to evoke a choirboy approach to some songs.

When he was nineteen, he won first, second and third awards at the famous Benidorm International Song Festival, Spain, in 1962 and 1963 with the songs: "Llevan", "Inmensidad" and "Tu Conciencia". After a brief relation with Barclay record label, who produced just an EP, he signed a contract with Hispavox recording company, and began a long artistic relationship with the musical director of this label, the late, talented Argentinian orchestrator Waldo de los Ríos and intensify the partnership with outstanding Spanish songwriter Manuel Alejandro. ...

Source: Article "Raphael (singer)" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.