Manuel Turizo

Biography

Manuel Turizo Zapata (Latin American Spanish pronunciation: [maˈnwel tuˈɾiso saˈpata]; born 12 April 2000) is a Colombian singer. Born and raised in Montería, he started making music at 13. He first became popular with his song "Una Lady Como Tú×Una lady como tú10 April 2017 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Una lady como tú3:33" (2016). He made his debut album ADN on August 23, 2019. Turizo's music contains influences from pop music, trap, and vallenato, and his vocal range has been classified as baritone. His most well-known song is his 2022 single "La Bachata×La bachata26 May 2022 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1La bachata2:43".

2000–2015: Early life and musical beginnings

Manuel Turizo grew up in the Colombian coastal town of Montería and began making music at age thirteen. In 2000, when Turizo was born, his parents had gifted a guitar and microphone to his older brother, Julian—who was only two at the time—so he would "…not get jealous" of the attention they would be giving to the newborn Manuel. Years later, Turizo attempted to learn to play his brother's guitar, but felt he did not have the aptitude for it, and thus began developing his singing voice. His original goal was to be a veterinarian, but he decided to pursue music after singing lessons with a Cuban music teacher. As a child, Turizo would practice vocals by singing along to his favourite songs, while his brother accompanied him on vocal harmonies, guitar and ukulele. Later, he began writing songs more consistently, while his brother was away earning his post-graduate in Medellín.

2016–present: "Una Lady Como Tú", success, and ADN

Turizo started his musical career in 2016 with his first two self-released singles, "Baila Conmigo×Baila conmigo6 December 2016 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Baila conmigo3:47" and "Vámonos×Vámonos6 December 2016 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Vámonos3:51". They were followed by his best known for his hit single "Una Lady Como Tú×Una lady como tú10 April 2017 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Una lady como tú3:33", released on 16 March 2017, which granted him widespread popularity in Latin America; the music video for the song has, as of June 2020, received over 1.4 billion views on YouTube. Within a year of its release, "Una Lady Como Tú" was streamed more than 235 million times on Spotify. This hit was followed by "Bésame×Bésame2 June 2017 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Bésame3:52" (May 2017) on which he collaborated with Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Valentino. The success of these singles led Billboard to include Turizo in the magazine's list of "10 Latin Artists To Watch in 2018".
In September 2018, Turizo achieved his first Billboard Hot 100-charting hit with his collaboration with Ozuna on the single "Vaina Loca". The song peaked at number 94 and stayed on the chart for two weeks. In October 2018, he collaborated with Mau y Ricky on the single "Desconocidos×Desconocidos12 October 2018 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Desconocidos3:24". In March 2019, his song "Sola" became first number one song on the Billboard Latin Airplay chart. He released his debut album, ADN on 23 August 2019, which featured collaborations with Zion & Lennox, Noriel, Ozuna, Darell, Nicky Jam, Sech, and Anuel AA. ADN peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot Latin Albums chart. In September 2019, Turizo was named as the first Latin "global priority artist" by the French streaming service Deezer. He performed a virtual concert with Billboard on 25 March 2020, while in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic to raise money for the non-profit organisation MusiCares. The concert consisted of a cappella renditions of the songs "Una Lady Como Tú" and "Déjala Que Vuelva×Déjala que vuelva20 October 2017 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Déjala que vuelva3:40".
In 2025, Turizo was featured as a coach on the tenth season of La Voz Kids Spain alongside David Bisbal, Edurne, and Lola Índigo. His final artist, Lucas Paulano, won the season, making Turizo the winning coach. He will return to the show in 2027 as a coach on the twelfth season.

Artistry

Manuel Turizo comes from a family of musical talent: his father and brother Julián Turizo are musicians. The two brothers form a duo in which Manuel sings and Julián plays the ukulele. In addition to reggaeton, Turizo has also experimented with trap, R&B, and vallenato. His vocals have been described by Billboard as "sultry and deep" and his vocal range has been classified as baritone. Turizo cites Carlos Vives and Bruno Mars as his biggest musical influences. He also lists Luis Fonsi, Shakira, Sin Bandera, Justin Bieber and Chayanne as important musicians in his musical development.