Lali Espósito

Mariana "Lali" Espósito (born 10 October 1991),who records as Lali, is an Argentine singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and model.

Espósito began her career as an actress and singer in 2003 when she joined the cast of the children's telenovela Rincón de Luz, created by producer Cris Morena. She had other subsequent supporting roles in telenovelas Chiquititas and Floricienta and a main role in Casi Ángeles, the latter of which increased her fame in Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe.

From 2007 to 2012, Espósito, along with four other cast members from Casi Ángeles, was part of the teen pop band Teen Angels, which originated from the series. The group was commercially successful internationally, and toured throughout Argentina and countries such as Israel, Spain, Italy and Latin America. Espósito also sang in the soundtracks of Rincón de Luz and Chiquititas. Following her role in the unsuccessful 2011 telenovela Cuando me sonreís and her portrayal of Abigail Williams in the Buenos Aires production of The Crucible, Espósito made her film debut in La pelea de mi vida in 2012, starring alongside Mariano Martínez and Federico Amador. In January 2013, she began acting in the television comedy Solamente Vos, as the daughter of Adrián Suar's character. In 2015, Espósito portrayed her first lead role on TV as "Esperanza" on Esperanza mía. Its soundtrack album, in which she appeared on nine of the eleven tracks, received a platinum certification in Argentina for selling over 40,000 copies.

Her debut solo studio album, A Bailar, was released on 21 March 2014, featuring pop and EDM influences."A Bailar" was released as the lead single of the homonymous album. The album spawned the singles "Asesina", "Mil Años Luz", "Del Otro Lado" and "Histeria". The album peaked at No. 5 in Argentina and at No. 3 in Uruguay. In 2016, she released her second studio album Soy after the previous release of the songs "Unico" and "Soy". Both albums were certified gold in Argentina by the Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers (CAPIF).

Espósito's accolades include five Gardel Awards, four MTV Europe Music Awards, one Kids' Choice Award, thirteen Argentine Kids' Choice Awards, six MTV Millennial Awards, one Heat Latin Music Award, one Martin Fierro Award, one Tato Award, and nominations for the Billboard Latin Music Awards, Premios Lo Nuestro, and the Seoul International Drama Awards. In 2015, Infobae named Espósito one of the 10 most influential women in Argentina.

1998–2006: Early work; Rincón de Luz, Floricienta and Chiquititas

Espósito made her television debut on the children's program Caramelito y vos (English: Caramelito And You) in 1998, when she was 6 years old. She made her acting debut in Rincón de luz (Corner of Light), a children's television series created by Cris Morena, in which she played one of the main supporting characters Malena "Coco" Cabrera. A year later, Espósito appeared as Roberta in Floricienta, another successful series by Cris Morena. In 2006, she portrayed Agustina Ross in a new rendition of Cris Morena's highly successful children's series Chiquititas (Tiny Girls). She also participated in stage adaptations of these three series.

Espósito debuted as a singer on soundtrack albums for Rincón de luz, Floricienta and Chiquititas. These albums were a commercial success in Argentina and numerous other countries, most notably Israel.

2007–2010: Success with Casi Ángeles and Teen Angels

In 2007, Espósito landed her first leading role on television, as Marianella "Mar" Rinaldi in Casi Ángeles (Almost Angels), also created by Morena and produced by Cris Morena Group. It became one of the most popular adolescent television programs in Argentina, Latin America and Israel. The series lasted from 2007 to 2010 and held high viewer ratings and earning four Martín Fierro Awards for Best Juvenile Program.

While acting in Casi Ángeles, Espósito became one of five members of successful pop band Teen Angels, signed to Sony BMG, along with Gastón Dalmau, Juan Pedro Lanzani, Nicolás Riera and María Eugenia Suárez. Teen Angels reached success in countries such as Argentina, Israel, Chile, Peru, Spain and Uruguay. Although Casi Ángeles ended in 2010, the band members announced they would continue working together, with Rochi Igarzábal replacing María Eugenia Suárez.

From 2007 to 2012, Teen Angels released six studio albums, of which five were certified platinum and one was certified gold by the Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers. They were also spokespersons for numerous brands, such as Coca-Cola. The band won a Clarín Award, a Kids' Choice Award Argentina, two Los 40 Principales Awards, and a Quiero Award, and three nominations for Carlos Gardel Awards.

Teen Angels disbanded in 2012, and held its last concert on 11 October 2012 in Córdoba. Teen Angels, el adiós, a 3D concert film about Teen Angels, was released in 2013 and marked the end of the group.

2011–2013: Cuando me sonreis, The Crucible, Solamente vos and A Bailar (single)

After the end of Casi Ángeles, Espósito adopted her nickname Lali, by which she had been known to her friends and family, as her stage name.

In 2011, Espósito starred on Cuando me sonreís (When you smile at me), a new television series by Tomás Yankelevich, opposite Facundo Arana, Julieta Díaz and Benjamín Rojas. The following year, Espósito portrayed Abigail Williams in the Buenos Aires production of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and made her film debut with La pelea de mi vida (The Fight of My Life), which also starred Mariano Martínez and Federico Amador.

Since January 2013, Espósito had starred the Pol-ka series Solamente vos (Only You), along with Adrián Suar and Natalia Oreiro, as Daniela, one of its leading characters. In 2013, Espósito announced she would release her first album as a solo artist, titled A Bailar. When asked about the album's genre, she described it as mainly dance with hip hop influences. The album's lead single, "A Bailar", was released for digital download on her website on 5 August, causing the website to crash because of a spike in traffic. On 2 September, Espósito presented the music video for "A Bailar" at the prominent La Trastienda Club. "A Bailar" received 100,000 YouTube views on its release day, and the single entered the top 20 on iTunes Latin and iTunes Israel. It also was popular in music charts and radio channels in Latin America, Italy and Israel.

2014–2015: A Bailar, A los 40 and Esperanza mía

Previous to the release of her debut album, Espósito released A Bailar EP, which included the tracks "A Bailar", "Asesina" and "Del Otro Lado". The music video for "Asesina", the second single, was uploaded to the singer's official YouTube account on 10 March 2014. The ten-track album A Bailar (English: Let's Dance) was released on 21 March 2014.

In support of the album, Espósito embarked on the A Bailar Tour of Argentina, with several later stops in Uruguay, Chile, Spain, Italy and Israel. The tour earnedmillion in the first five shows at Teatro Opera Allianz and was later named the highest-grossing tour of 2015 in Argentina. Following the tour's success, more dates were added, and the tour concluded on 25 April 2016 at Menora Mivtachim Arena, Tel Aviv, after a total of 74 dates.

In May 2014, Espósito starred in the Peruvian film A los 40, directed by Bruno Ascenzo.

In May 2014 she starred in the Peruvian film "A los 40" (At 40), directed by Bruno Ascenzo. In the same year, she became the first ever Argentine artist to win a Kids' Choice Award in the United States for Best Latin Artist.

In later 2014, the singer signed an exclusive publishing contract with Sony Music Entertainment Argentina and released "Mil Años Luz" as the third single from A Bailar. To celebrate her incorporation to Sony Music, Espósito released a deluxe edition of A Bailar, which contained unpublished material including a new song, a remix, several video clips and a documentary of the tour. The album peaked at No. 3 in Uruguay and at No. 5 in Argentina, where it was certified gold a few days after its release.

In 2015, Espósito starred in the Pol-ka telenovela Esperanza mía (My lovely hope) alongside Mariano Martinez as Julia "Esperanza" Albarrazin, a young woman who settles in a convent by posing as a novice.

The A Bailar Tour, continued to 2016 across national cities like Buenos Aires, Rosario, Mar del Plata and Córdoba and included international stops in Uruguay, Italy, Spain and Israel. In 2014, the singer performed as the opening act for Ricky Martin show, held in Buenos Aires and in 2015 for Katy Perry's The Prismatic World Tour.

2016–2017: Soy, Permitidos and collaborations

Espósito released her second studio album Soy on 20 May 2016, with El País newspaper writing that "she takes one more step with this album, she experiments, shows herself as she is, and that is always valuable". In an interview with Intrusos, the singer referred to the album's title (Soy, English: I Am) saying that "it is called Soy because I am sharing the truth about what I think and feel. It is super personal". It sold more than 20,000 copies in Argentina in just three hours, being certified gold by the Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers (CAPIF). The album debuted at No. 1 in Argentina, Uruguay and Israel, and at No. 5 and No. 6 in Italy and Spain, respectively. Its lead single, "Soy", was released on 5 May and peaked at No. 5 on the Monitor Latino Argentina Top 20 chart and at No. 15 on the Ecuador Pop Songs chart. The second single, "Boomerang", was released on 5 September 2016. As of June 2017, its music video has been viewed more than 17 million times. Soy was listed as one of the best albums of 2016 by Billboard Brasil along with Beyoncé's Lemonade, Lady Gaga's Joanne, J Balvin's Energía and others. In the same year, Espósito was featured on Abraham Mateo's remix of the song "Mueve" from the re-issue of his album Are You Ready?, on Brian Cross song "Firestarter" from his second studio album Darkness to Life and on Baby K's Spanish version of the international hit "Roma-Bangkok".

In August, Espósito starred in the romantic comedy film Permitidos as Camila Boecchi alongside Martín Piroyansky. The film, which was directed by Ariel Winograd, grossed $1.9 million and has been viewed more than 370,000 times. The review aggregator website Todas Las Críticas assigned the film a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

The singer embarked on the Soy Tour of Latin America, Europe and Asia on 8 September. Reviews of the tour performances generally praised Espósito's vocals and the show's staging, which is said that "fulfills the expectations of a nowadays international pop show."

Espósito's 2016 most notable accolades include Favorite Artist and Favorite Song for "Soy" at the 2016 Argentine Kids' Choice Awards, Best Latin America South Act at the 2016 MTV Europe Music Awards, Argentine Artist of the Year at the 2016 MTV Millennial Awards, and nominations for Best Actress at both the 2016 Seoul International Drama Awards and the 2016 Martín Fierro Awards, where she won Best Theme Song for "Tengo Esperanza". The singer became the first ever Argentine artist to enter the Billboard Social 50 and Artist 100 charts, peaking at No. 2 and No. 69, respectively.

In July and November, respectively, Espósito released "Una Na" and "Tu Novia" as the first two singles from her upcoming third studio album. The former one rapidly reached the top of the Argentine National Songs chart. In November, the siner kicked off her second concert tour in support of Soy, titled Lali en Vivo, with two sold-out shows at the Luna Park Arena.

In that period of time Lali was the most popular in the global ranking of different topics in multilingual Wikipedia.

2018–2019: Brava, The Accused and Talento FOX

From January to July, the singer continued with her Lali en Vivo tour, which visited Peru, Spain, Italy, Israel and the United States. In February, Espósito was featured on Mau y Ricky and Karol G's remix of "Mi Mala", with Becky G and Leslie Grace, and, in May, she teamed up with CD9 and Ana Mena for the remix of "Prohibido". Preceded by the release of "100 Grados", in April, and "Besarte Mucho", in July, the singer released her third studio album, Brava, in August 2018. One week after, the album received a gold certification by the Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers for having sold ten thousand copies. Espósito embarked on the Brava Tour immediately after the album release, on 23 August, with two sold-out shows at the Luna Park Arena. The album was succeeded by the release of the singles "Sin Querer Queriendo" with Mau y Ricky, and "Caliente", with Brazilian drag queen Pabllo Vittar. The singles peaked at number 14 and 51 on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100, respectively.

Outside of recording music, Espósito made her debut as a judge on Fox Latin America's original television talent show Talento FOX. In September, Espósito starred in the film The Accused, as Dolores Dreier, a girl accused of killing her best friend. The film was directed by Gonzalo Tobal and is made its premiere in the main competition of the 75th Venice International Film Festival.

Lali started off 2019 performing in Times Square, New York City, for Univision's Countdown Feliz 2019. Early that year, the music video for "Lindo Pero Bruto", her collaboration with Thalía, was released. The singer received notable nominations for the Premio Lo Nuestro and the Billboard Latin Music Awards. During the first months of the year, Lali continued touring with Brava, which was certified four times platinum in Argentina. For the 21st Annual Gardel Awards, Lali won three awards, the most of the night, in the categories for Best Female Pop Album and Best Cover Design for Brava, and Song of the Year for "Sin Querer Queriendo".

In the last months of 2019, Lali took her Brava Tour to Europe, the United States and the Rock in Rio music festival in Brazil, where she also received a gold certification for "Caliente." It was in these months that Lali officially kicked off her fouth music era: in October, she released her fourth studio album's lead single, "Laligera", which peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100; in November, she released "Como Así", which features boy band CNCO, with whom she co-hosted the 2019 Premios Juventud ceremony back in July.

Modeling

Espósito has been a spokesperson for numerous brands, either independently or with her Teen Angels bandmates. Her first commercial was for the children's fashion label MCbody Jeans. In 2007, she signed an exclusive contract with the Argentine lingerie brand Promesse, and she has done most of her photo sessions with Luisana Lopilato. In 2009, Espósito and Peter Lanzani did a special promotion for KEFF body spray for the Israeli market. Since 2011, she has been the spokesperson for the lingerie brand Lara Teens. In 2014 she starred in a commercial for hair conditioner Biokur in Uruguay and a commercial for feminine wipes company Carefree in Argentina.

Espósito has been the cover model for magazines such as Billboard, Galore, Caras, OnMag, Las Rosas, Twees, Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Luz, Viva, Watt, Nueva, Upss and Fack, among others.

Entrepreneurship

On 21 September 2013, Espósito launched her own line of eponymous perfumes. In 2018, she launched an item of clothing for 47 Street.

Philanthropy

In May 2010, Espósito and her Teen Angels bandmates participated in an action organized by the Biodiversity Foundation on the occasion of the World Biodiversity Day and raised awareness of the importance of preserving biodiversity. In 2013, Espósito supported Best Buddies International, a non-governmental organization that promotes social inclusion and employment of people with intellectual disabilities. In 2014 she participated in the concert at Teatro Opera by the Guest Foundation that marked the 25th anniversary of the fight against HIV. In 2015 she starred in the solidarity campaign "Flood, what are we doing?" for the foundation to help flood victims in the city of Córdoba.

Espósito has been named "Godmother" of Dono x Vos foundation, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to raising awareness about organ donation. In 2017, the singer joined forces with Red Solidaria and River Plate Football Club to launch a solidarity campaign named "Amor Es Presente". The campaign received donated toys that were later gifted to more than twelve-thousand children as part of Christmas festivities.

Activism

Espósito has proclaimed herself in favor of the voluntary termination of pregnancy in Argentina, where abortion is still illegal. The bill proposed that an abortion may be performed during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, with no requirements other than the woman's desire. Espósito is part of a Feminist group of Argentine actresses and singers, such as Jimena Barón, Griselda Siciliani, Carla Peterson, Florencia Peña and Florencia de la V, among others. Although the bill was approved by the Chamber of Deputies, it was rejected by the Senate. Espósito has expressed her position in major events such as the 48th annual Martin Fierro Awards, in which she lifted up a green scarf, sign of the pro-legal abortion movement in Argentina, at the end of her performance. Moreover, in her Brava Tour, she dedicates her song "Tu Revolución" to the movement, while the stage lights turn green and green hearts are displayed in the screens.

Lali is the daughter of María José Riera, who road-manages her tour, and Carlos Espósito, a football coach. She has two siblings, Patricio Espósito and Ana Laura Espósito. She was born and grew up in Parque Patricios. After high school, they moved to Banfield. She currently resides in Palermo, Buenos Aires. She has Italian ancestors from her father's lineage.

From 2006 to 2010, Espósito dated her Chiquititas and Casi Ángeles co-star Peter Lanzani.

In March 2014, the 23-year-old Espósito was ranked third sexiest Argentine woman in a survey reported by Radio Continental. That same year, she was ranked the 27th-most influential Spanish-speaking celebrity on Twitter.

• A Bailar (2014)
• Soy (2016)
• Brava (2018)

Headlining

• A Bailar Tour (2014–16)
• Soy Tour (2016–2017)
• Lali en Vivo (2017–2018)
• Brava Tour (2018–2019)

Opening act

• The Prismatic World Tour (for Katy Perry) (2015)
• The 7/27 Tour (for Fifth Harmony) (2016)
• One World Tour (for Ricky Martin) (2016)
• Witness: The Tour (for Katy Perry) (2018)
• Never Be the Same Tour (for Camila Cabello) (2018)

As of February 2019, Espósito has won 39 awards from 71 nominations, including five Gardel Awards, four MTV Europe Music Awards, one Kids' Choice Award, one Heat Latin Music Award, thirteen Argentine Kids' Choice Awards, six MTV Millennial Awards, one Heat Latin Music Award, one Martin Fierro Award, and one Tato Award. Moreover, Lali has received nominations for the Premio Lo Nuestro, the Billboard Latin Music Awards, and the Seoul International Drama Awards, among others.