Abraham Mateo

Beginnings

Abraham Mateo was born on 25 August 1998 in San Fernando, Cádiz, the younger child of Antonio Mateo, a construction worker and security guard, and Susana Chamorro, a housewife. He has an older brother, Tony, who also sings and plays music. Mateo was born into a family with musical roots; his maternal grandfather was a tenor soloist with a church choir, his paternal grandfather was a flamenco singer, and his mother sings Boleros and Spanish music. He started singing at the age of three by imitating the performances of the TV talent show Operación Triunfo. Mateo's first vocal coach was his mother Susana and he later continued his music education by attending singing lessons. He learned to play flute at age six, piano and keyboard at age eight, and acoustic guitar at age ten, teaching himself how to play by ear.

In 2006, at the age of seven, he was awarded with a special mention of the jury at the regional music competition for kids in Andalusia, organized by the Teresa Rabal Foundation. Two years later, he won the revelation award at the national competition. In 2008, he debuted in the television show "Menuda Noche" that airs on the Canal Sur TV of Andalusia. For over four years, Mateo performed regularly in "Menuda Noche", singing songs of Nino Bravo, Rocío Durcal, Alejandro Sanz, David Bisbal, Miguel Gallardo, Sandro Giacobbe, and other Latin artists.

2009–10: Debut album Abraham Mateo

Early 2009, at the age of ten, he signed a contract with EMI Music Spain, releasing in December of the same year his self-titled debut album, Abraham Mateo. The album, recorded in Madrid, includes original ballads written by his producer Jacobo Calderon, covers of songs by Raphael, Alejandro Sanz, Laura Pausini, and Luis Fonsi, as well as a duet with the French singer Caroline Costa. To promote the album, Mateo toured through several cities in Spain and performed in Spanish radio and television shows. In the following years, he continued covering songs in Spanish, Italian, and English (including a duet with Sabrina Carpenter) and then uploading the videos to YouToube. In November 2011, Mateo released "Desde que te fuiste", a Latin dance song written by himself, on ITunes.

2012–13: AM

In 2012 he was signed to Sony Music Spain and released a year later his second studio album titled AM. The album was recorded in Madrid and Miami and represented a change in his music style: in addition to ballad songs, it also included pop and electropop music, and Spanglish lyrics. He rose to popularity with the release of AM's first single, "Señorita". The song, written by Herbie Crichlow and Thomas Troelsen, was listed for 40 weeks on the Spain's Top 50 singles chart, peaked on number three, and was certified Gold in Spain. The music video for "Señorita" was the most trending music video of 2013 on YouTube Spain. In July 2013, he performed "Señorita" at the 2013 Premios Juventud Awards, at the BankUnited Center in Miami, sharing the stage with Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Pitbull, Prince Royce and other artists. The album's second single, "Girlfriend", written by Charlie Mason, Jani Hölli and Gabriel Warmby, was released early October 2013 and debuted within the top fifteen in Spain. The album AM, released a month later, debuted at number six on the Spain's Top 100 albums chart and was listed for 52 weeks. AM was certified Gold in Spain. The third and last single, "Lánzalo", written by his producer Jacobo Calderón and Mateo himself, was released in March 2014 as a charity single, in support of UNICEF campaign for the children who suffer as a result of the Syrian conflict. The song debuted at number two on the Spain's Top 50 singles chart.

The AM tour started in February 2014 in Valencia and, after almost 40 concerts around Spain, ended in September 2014 in Málaga. He was the opening act for the British boyband One Direction in Peru, Chile and Spain as part of their 2014's Where We Are Tour. In October 2014, Mateo headlined the "Coca Cola Music Experience" concert at the Barclaycard Center of Madrid, sharing the stage with the British boybands The Vamps and Union J. In November 2014, he gave his first concerts in Latin America: at Sala Omnium, in Santiago, Chile and at Luna Park arena, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

2014–15: Who I Am

In May 2014, he traveled to Los Angeles, California to work on his third studio album with several American songwriters including Damon Sharpe, Lauren Christy and Andre Merritt. The album titled Who I AM was released in Spain and Latin America in November 2014. It contains broken beats, a funk vibe futuristic beats and organic arrangements. Who I AM debuted at number one in Mexico and Spain and was certified Platinum in Spain by Promusicae. The first single "All The Girls (La La La)", written by Lauren Christy, Jacobo Calderón and Mateo himself, was released in September 2014 and it peaked at number 9 on the Spain's Top 50 singles chart. The music video for "All The Girls (La La La)", a two-parts video that includes an interactive web where viewers can change the story and unlock contents, was chosen as the best Spanish music video of 2014 on the VEVO platform. To promote Who I AM, he traveled to Colombia, Chile, Argentina and México. In this last country Mateo performed with Carlos Rivera at Teatro Metropólitan and with the Mexican boyband CD9 at Mexico City Arena. In December 2014 started the Who I AM tour in Barcelona. Mateo was featured in Lodovica Comello' song "Sin usar palabras", the second single of her album Mariposa.

2015–16: Are You Ready?

In March 2015, he traveled to London and Los Angeles to write the songs of his fourth studio album together with Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd, Damon Sharpe, Jörgen Elofsson, Lindy Robbins, John Reid, Matt Schwartz, Julian Emery, Jef Martens and Talay Riley.

He sang the Spanish version of "Love Is An Open Door" ("La puerta hacia el amor") which features in the soundtrack of Disney's film Frozen. He composed and interpreted the soundtrack of the animated series Invizimals, produced by BRB International, and based on a PlayStation video game. He performed the single "Mellow Yellow" by Donovan for the Spanish soundtrack of the Universal Pictures animated film, Minions.

He was nominated for the Premios Juventud (Univision, Miami) of 2013 in the category "Best New Artist", won a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in 2014 as "Best Spanish Artist", and a Neox Fan Awards 2014 in the category "Best singer of the year". In January 2014, he received the "Premio a la identidad isleña" (Islander Identity Prize), which was awarded by the city hall of San Fernando, Cádiz, his birthplace. The first Abraham Mateo biography, I.AM. was published by Montena, an editorial part of Penguin Random House, in November 2014.

Acting

He acted in the TV movies Días Sin Luz (2009) and Raphael (2010) both broadcast by the Spanish television channel Antena 3. He performed in the online series XQEsperar, which also featured Angy Fernandez.

Tours

Headlining

Opening act