RAPHAEL World Wide Site

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A Few Facts

Rafael Martos, Raphael, was born in Linares, Jaen, Spain, in a very humble family which, when he was 9 months old, relocated to Madrid. Given the gift of an incredible voice, Raphael began singing at the age of five, and, by the time he was nine he won the first prize in the Salzburg Music Festival (Austria) for the best voice in Europe. His professional career began at age 14.

Since then, it has all been a continuos string of success, and the more than 400 million Spanish speaking people in the whole world have chosen him as their banner. To them, Raphael is Raphael. Their Raphael.
Absolute pioneer of Spanish modern music in countries such as Italy, France, Germany, Japan or Australia, Raphael has succeeded in almos every single corner of the world: from the former Soviet Union to the United States, where he performed for the first time in 1967 in New York's Madison Square Garden, with Brian Epstein (The Beatles' manager) as his producer. Countless world tours have taken him to perform in the most prestigious theaters, such as Carnegie Hall, The Paramount and Radio City in New York, Opera House in Sydney, Bolshoi and Rossia un Moscow, Palacio de la Música, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Teatro Español, and Teatro Real in Madrid, Opera House in St. Petersburg, Palau de la Música in Barcelona, Olympia in Paris, Palladium in London, Shrine Auditorium, Greek Theater and Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles, Bellas Artes in Mexico, Teatro de la Opera in Buenos Aires, Opera House in Tokio, Teresa Carreño in Caracas, the Bellas Artes in Puerto Rico, and the Kennedy Center in Washington among others.

Raphael has recorded over 56 albums in Spanish, plus others in Italian, French, English, German and even Japanese, for over of 76 LP's.

He has been received and condecorated by H.M. King Juan Carlos I of Spain, as well as by presidents of right, left and center wings... he gets along with all of them because he believes that politics and show bussiness have nothing to do with each other. In the first years of his career, Raphael starred in 9 feature films, several TV series, and countless music specials for the small screen. To celebrate his 25th anniversary on stage, he performed in Madrid's Santiago Beranabéu soccer stadium in front of 114.00 fans.

He's married to Spanish writer Natalia Figueroa. They have three children: Jacobo, Alejandra, and Manuel. "They are my best concerts", Raphael always says.

They usually reside in a house in the outskirts of Madrid, although he owns others in Malaga, Toledo, Biarritz, Mexico, and Key Biscayne (Richard Nixon's former Summer estate).

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