Maluma biography: the album he dedicated to his daughter

A reggaeton album dedicated to a two-year-old daughter was not what people expected from the artist behind “Hawái.” Maluma released Loco x Volver on May 14, 2026, and called it the most personal work of his career, shaped by the birth of París and the panic attacks he acknowledged experiencing afterward. At 32, with fourteen new songs, the Colombian is making his most obvious change in direction since he began. Here is his story, based on verified information.

Who is Maluma?

Maluma is a Colombian singer and songwriter born on January 28, 1994, in Medellín. His real name is Juan Luis Londoño Arias, and he is a leading figure in reggaeton and Latin pop, with hits including “Hawái” and collaborations with Madonna and Jennifer Lopez.

Maluma: personal details

Field: Detail

Full name: Juan Luis Londoño Arias

Stage name: Maluma

Date of birth: January 28, 1994

Place of birth: Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia

Age (2026): 32 years

Zodiac sign: Aquarius

Nationality: Colombian

Occupation: Singer and songwriter

Genres: Reggaeton and Latin pop

Latest album: Loco x Volver (May 14, 2026)

Children: París (2024) and Orión (2026)

Maluma: childhood and early years

Juan Luis Londoño Arias was born in Medellín in 1994, when the city had an international reputation very different from its present status as a center of Latin urban music.

His stage name comes from his family. Maluma was formed from the first syllables of Marlli, his mother; Luis, his father; and Manuela, his sister. It is a detail often overlooked, but one that says much about the place of family in his public story.

Before music, he pursued soccer fairly seriously, a more common path for his generation in his city. He decided to become a singer while still a teenager, around 2010.

At Famosix, it is worth pointing out that his rise was fast but not instant: several years on the Colombian circuit separated his earliest local recordings from his continental breakthrough.

That early journey matters when understanding his position in the genre. He did not join reggaeton after it had become an established international industry, but while it still circulated mainly through local scenes and regional radio. That timing places him in the generation that opened the market rather than the one that inherited it.

Maluma: professional career

His career took off in the second half of the 2010s, when reggaeton moved from a regional genre to the commercial engine of Spanish-language music.

Industry recognition came with F.A.M.E., which in 2018 won the Latin Grammy for best contemporary pop vocal album. It was also his first album to enter the US Billboard 200.

The following year marked his arrival in the top tier of global pop: in 2019 he collaborated with Madonna on “Medellín,” a song named after his city that placed him on a stage few Latin artists had reached by then.

But his most recognizable song arrived in 2020 with "Hawái", from the album Papi Juancho. The song topped global charts for weeks, and a remix with The Weeknd extended its reach further. Also in 2020 came “Pa Ti,” his collaboration with Jennifer Lopez.

That period established a pattern that defines his career: alternating his own Spanish-language releases with high-profile collaborations with English-speaking artists without abandoning his language or original genre.

In May 2026 he released Loco x Volver, his seventh studio album, with fourteen songs and an explicitly different approach: a return to his roots presented as the most personal work of his career. He launched it with a free concert at Medellín’s Plaza Botero attended by more than 8,000 people.

Key career milestones:

• 2010: begins his music career as a teenager in Medellín
• 2018: wins the Latin Grammy for best contemporary pop vocal album with F.A.M.E.
• 2019: collaborates with Madonna on “Medellín”
• 2020: “Hawái” becomes a global hit and gets a remix with The Weeknd
• 2020: releases “Pa Ti” with Jennifer Lopez
• March 2024: his daughter París is born
• May 14, 2026: releases Loco x Volver, his seventh album

Maluma: key songs and albums

Maluma: personal life

His relationship with Susana Gómez is the most stable and documented of his public life and also the most guarded: for years he avoided displaying it on social media despite being active online.

In March 2024 his first daughter, París, was born, and that event reshaped much of his public message. In 2026 he said publicly that after her birth he began having panic attacks, a subject very few artists in his genre have addressed openly.

That candor carries additional weight in a field where the prevailing image is still invulnerability. Discussing mental health from within reggaeton, a genre built around partying and success, breaks with the usual script.

In May 2026, around Mother’s Day, the couple announced they were expecting a second child, a boy. Orión was born on September 14, 2026. He has said that his daughter París influenced the change in image and tone of his new musical phase.

At Famosix, we include only what he has made public about his family. A great deal of unconfirmed information circulates around an artist with his visibility, and his private life appears here only to the extent he has shared it himself.

Facts about Maluma

• His name comes from his family: Marlli, Luis and Manuela, his mother, father and sister.
• He wanted to be a soccer player: music came later, when he was a teenager.
• He sang a song called “Medellín” with Madonna: a song named after his hometown, in 2019.
• “Hawái” had a remix with The Weeknd: the song topped global charts in 2020.
• He won a Latin Grammy in 2018: for the album F.A.M.E.
• He spoke openly about his panic attacks: unusual in his genre.
• He premiered his 2026 album for free in Medellín: before more than 8,000 people at Plaza Botero.

Maluma in 2026

The year has centered on Loco x Volver, released on May 14. The album represents a deliberate shift: less artifice, more reference to his origins and his city, and a narrative built around fatherhood.

In his personal life, 2026 also brought the birth of his second child, Orión, two years after París. Both events are explicitly connected with his music, an unusual move for him.

For Latin American audiences, his current work raises an interesting question: can an artist shaped by reggaeton in the 2010s sustain a long career by changing tone, or does the genre punish that evolution?

At Famosix, we think his case illustrates a broader generational shift. The first wave of Latin urban stars is reaching their thirties and beginning to write about fatherhood, anxiety and returning home rather than parties. See other international artists in our ranking of Peruvian singers.

In Peru, his audience has remained steady since the “Hawái” era, and his Lima dates are among the quickest to sell out when he announces a tour of the region.

Conclusion

Maluma went from recording in Medellín as a teenager to singing with Madonna and topping global charts with “Hawái.” At 32 and now a father of two, his 2026 album marks the most personal turn in his career. At Famosix, we follow his path using confirmed information.

Sources consulted

• Billboard: Maluma reveals that he and his girlfriend are having a boy
• Infobae: Maluma explains why they kept their second pregnancy private