About the Great

Chico Castillo

BIOGRAPHY

Born and raised in France, Chico Castillo is considered a flamenco artist at heart. Coming from a Spanish family with artistic roots, Chico developed his art, learned to appreciate life and to feel the passion for flamenco music. At the age of 12 he participated in the first festival and soon knew that his future would be marked by music.

With the encouragement of his mother, who was one of the first singers of the National Ballet of Spain, and his grandfather, a renowned guitar interpreter, paved the route for Castillo’s passion. He stood out in the musical world and at the age of 17 when he had a meeting with Manitas de Plata, patriarch of the Baliardo family, creator of the Gipsy sound and one of the founders of Gipsy Kings, which made it extremely important for Chico to develop his own style.

"I learned a lot from them. They are the masters of this art, an art that I love, one that led me to see a fantasy world. A world in which every day I continue to discover new fusions for flamenco," he comments.

Chico Castillo's career gained even greater consistency with the influence of the rhythms of two great masters of Hispanic music: the guitarist Peret and his Catalan rumba, and the brilliant guitarist Paco de Lucia, exponent of the new flamenco.

It was from these meetings that Chico Castillo conducted his work on gypsy music. At the age of 23, he composed “Alabina”, a song that is an important expression of the genre, showing a fusion of sounds that enchanted the world.

With the song “Alabina,” Chico Castillo won platinum and gold records, reaching over 14 million copies sold worldwide. “Alabina”, was also present in the soundtracks of several films, with which millions of viewers around the world had the opportunity to experience the phenomenon of gypsy music. The Gipsy (or Chico Castillo) followed his career and wrote the musical Don Juan, alongside Felix Gray, winning several awards and selling 5 million albums.

Along with André and Mario Reyes, Chico Castillo was part of the group Gipsy Kings by André Reyes, reinforcing the mix of rumba with other rhythms, crossing all borders. Recognized worldwide superhits such as “Djobi Djoba”, “Bamboleo”, “Alabina” and “Volare” also gained recognition in the United States, one of the most demanding markets and where they spent forty weeks at the top of the charts, an achievement that few Spanish albums have achieved.

In 2023, he created the Rumbas y Rancheras project with Bertín Osborne with a first single called “No será fácil”, written by Gloria Estefan. Within his passion for the union of rhythms and sounds, he collaborated with the famous DJ duo Bedouin from which the song “Flore Chico” was born.

He is currently recording his new LP album produced in the US by Emilio Estefan, and his new single, a duet with the american pianist Arthur Hanlon, produced and distributed by Sony Music, and a new song in collaboration with Omar Montes and Yotuel, ex former leader of the Cuban group Orishas.

On May 5th 2024, he performed a live concert at the Miami Formula 1 Grand Prix with his friend Marc Anthony, kicking off Chico Castillo's next world tour that will begin in the coming months.

Significant experience

in Chico Castillo's career:

Sang for Princess Diana
Received the UNESCO Medal of Honor
Participated in Nelson Mandela's celebration of freedom
Sang to the kings of Saudi Arabia