Isabel Pantoja (María Isabel Pantoja Martín), born on August 2-1956, is a prominent Spanish singer known for her distinctive Andalusia style music. Coming from a musician family from the famous Triana district of Seville, in which both her father and grandfather were singers, Isabel developed keen interest in music and dreamed of being an artist.

Her father Juan Pantoja was a musician and song writer in a flamenco group Los Gaditanos while her mother Ana Martín was a flamenco dancer. Thence, Isabel inherits the qualities of both her parents to be a complete musician, a singer and dancer.

Nicknamed Maribel, Isabel joined her cousin’s Chiquetete dance troupe when she was just 7 and at the age of 13 she performed for the first time at the El Embrujo flamenco club on a contractual basis. She then moved to Madrid for a better career where she was trained by Juan Solano. In 1974, she recorded her first album with songs written by Rafael de León and composed by Juan Solano.

Isabel’s personal life was full of mirth in a milieu of singing and dancing while it was beset with tragedy too. In May 1980, Isabel met bullfighter Paquirri during a local festival and later on April 30, 1983 they got married. But after a year and few months of their marriage with a little baby to support, tragedy struck when Paquirri died during a bullfighting accident on Sep 26, 1984.

It took over a year for her recovery from the personal shock, and she came with a new album that was full of songs which reflected her melancholy state of mind. However, in 1990, Isabel was offered to act in the musical film “Yo soy esa” (1990) directed by Luis Sanz, and then in another one named “El dia en que naci”.

With her career spanning many decades as singer and dancer, Isabel Pantoja is the true ambassador of Spanish music in particular and culture in general. Her life represents music and arts, while being a true champion of the Spanish Ballad (Copla) and music with a universal appeal.