Aitana Ocaña Morales (born 27 June 1999), known mononymously as Aitana, is a Spanish pop singer and actress. She first gained national recognition in 2017, placing as the runner-up in the revival series of the Spanish reality television talent competition Operación Triunfo. While competing on the show, Aitana recorded the single "Lo Malo" with fellow contestant Ana Guerra. The song became an instant hit in Spain, debuting at number-one and holding the spot for several weeks. Following the competition, Aitana signed a 360º record deal with Universal Music and released her debut solo single "Teléfono" to commercial success and streaming-breaking records.
Her debut studio album, Spoiler, was released in 2019 and received a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album. Its accompanying concert tour visited many indoor arenas in Spain and was taped for the video album Play Tour: En Directo. In late 2020 she released her sophomore album 11 Razones. It spawned the top five singles "+ (Más)" featuring Cali y El Dandee and "Corazón Sin Vida" featuring Sebastián Yatra. Aitana ventured into acting in the Disney+ original series La Última (2022), for which she also recorded the soundtrack. She later explored electropop with her 2023 release Alpha, featuring the singles "Los Ángeles" and "Las Babys".
Dubbed as the "Spanish Princess of Pop", throughout her career, Aitana has accumulated five number one songs in her home country: "Lo Malo", "Teléfono", "Vas a Quedarte, "Gran Vía", and "Mon Amour". She has also been honored with a Premio Ondas, two Premios Odeón, five LOS40 Music Awards, a Radio Disney Music Award, an MTV Europe Music Award, and a Kids' Choice Award, among many others. She has also received two nominations at the Latin Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist and has been an assessor on season six of La Voz Kids in 2021, and a coach on seasons seven and eight in 2022 and 2023.
Early life
Aitana Ocaña Morales was born in Barcelona on 27 June 1999, as the only child of Cosme Ocaña and Belén Morales. She grew up in the municipality of Viladecans before moving to Sant Climent de Llobregat at age nine. In 2014, Aitana began to share cover versions of popular songs on YouTube. That year, she released her first original songs.
In 2017, she completed bachillerato and was admitted to study design at university the following year. After taking selectividad, she visited Ciudad Universitaria in Madrid, where the auditions for Operación Triunfo were being held. After auditioning, she was selected for series nine of the competition.
Career
2017–2018: Operación Triunfo and first releases
In October 2017, Aitana entered musical reality show contest Operación Triunfo. After over three months it ended with her as the show's runner-up. During her participation in the contest, she competed to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with two songs: "Arde", which she performed solo, and "Lo malo", composed by Brisa Fenoy and performed as a duet with Ana Guerra. The former song ended in second place and the latter finished third in the selection. Even though "Lo malo" hadn't been selected by the public to represent the country, it became an instant hit in Spain, topping the charts for five non-consecutive weeks and being certified 5× platinum. A remix of the song featuring Greeicy and Tini was released in August 2018. The song was performed at the 2019 Premios Lo Nuestro in Miami.
Aitana embarked on a co-headlining tour with her Operación Triunfo mates from March to December 2018. The tour consisted of 23 dates and was attended by almost 300,000 people. In July, the singer released her first solo single "Teléfono" which received mixed reviews. The song became her first number-one solo song in Spain. It topped the charts for six consecutive weeks and was certified four times platinum. Its music video became the most watched video on its first twenty-four hours on YouTube's Vevo channel in Spain. "Teléfono" was included in her debut extended play, Tráiler, which she released on November 30, 2018. The EP features six original songs, of which one is a collaboration with the Venezuelan-American singer Lele Pons. A week after, "Vas a Quedarte" was released as the EP's second single. Written alongside Colombian band Morat, it became her third number-one hit in Spain and was nominated for Best Spanish Song at the 2019 LOS40 Music Awards. She also released an illustrated book, became an ambassador for Stradivarius, took part of a Coca-Cola Christmas campaign, did a cameo in Skam España and presented Bad Bunny alongside Pons at the 19th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.
2019-2020: Spoiler and 11 Razones
Aitana began teasing her debut studio album in March 2019 which was intended to be a new EP that would be the second of a trilogy. That same month, the singer announced that she would be embarking on an intimate promotional concert tour the month after produced by Los40. At the tour's first stop, in Barcelona, the singer revealed that she had changed her mind a little bit. Now, she wasn't scheduled to release another 6-track EP but a full album. She announced the album's name, Spoiler and hinted the release date of the album; she said that it would be released by the beginning of summer. In April she collaborated with Morat on "Presiento" and in May with former One Direction member Zayn in the revamped version of "A Whole New World" for the live action film of Disney's Aladdin. On 17 May 2019, she released "Nada Sale Mal", the lead single of her upcoming debut studio album. It peaked at four on the Spanish charts and was certified Gold. The album was released digitally and physically on 7 June 2019. It debuted at the top of the charts, was certified Gold in its first week and scored a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2020 gala. Later that month, her collaboration with Lola Indigo "Me Quedo" was released as the album's second single. Thanks to this work, Aitana was nominated for Best New Artist at the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, where she also performed "Mi Persona Favorita" alongside Greeicy, Nella and Alejandro Sanz.
A reissued version of Spoiler was released on 20 December 2019, featuring five acoustic versions of her own songs and a tour documentary that features images of her concerts in Madrid, Barcelona and Granada. It hasn't been released in digital platforms but only in physical stores. Aitana ended 2019 being the third most streamed female artist on Spotify in Spain, behind Rosalía and Karol G.
The singer embarked on her first concert tour, the Play Tour in support of the album from June to December 2019, comprising 27 shows. A tour extension, alternatively titled "+ Play Tour", was planned for 2020 but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The show was taped for the video album Play Tour: En Directo and for the Movistar+ television special Play Tour: Tras las Luces, both released in 2020.
On 18 December 2019, Aitana released "+ (Más)", featuring Cali y El Dandee, the lead single of her upcoming second studio album. "+" achieved great commercial success in Spain, spending nine weeks at the country's top ten chart, and hinted a musical shift of Aitana to pop rock. In April 2020 she collaborated with Spanish singer David Bisbal on the duet version of his track "Si Tú la Quieres", which became a twenty hit in Spain. It would later win the LOS40 Music Award for Best Spanish Song. In May, Aitana announced that she would be collaborating with other musical acts throughout the year as part of a droplet era prior to the release of her sophomore record. Summertime saw the release of three new singles: "Enemigos", alongside Reik, "Más De Lo Que Aposté", alongside Morat, and "Tu Foto del DNI" alongside childhood friend Marmi., which was described as "a pleasant change in the singer's sound as well as one of the best vocal collaborations released by someone known for being in OT". The second single of her upcoming album, "Corazón Sin Vida" was released on 2 October, featuring vocals by Colombian singer Sebastián Yatra. It debuted at number four in Spain. On 30 October, she was featured in "Friend de Semana", a song by Danna Paola and Luisa Sonza. On November 13, she was contributed vocals to Tiësto's remix of Katy Perry's "Resilient". She described working with Perry as "a dream come true". Her work during the year was awarded a Premio Ondas for Musical Phenomenon of the Year for "being one of the most relevant national pop artists in recent years" and "an artist with a promising future and a bulwark of pop music in Spanish".
In November, Aitana announced that her sophomore studio album would be named 11 Razones, which would eventually be released on 11 December.[58] The album is reminiscent of early 2000s pop rock, which saw a departure from the sounds she had explored on Spoiler. It debuted at number two on the PROMUSICAE chart and later peaked at the top position. Promotion for the record continued by the release of a third single, a standard black vinyl pressing and a Record Store Day limited edition of the record. A supporting concert tour and began in July in Barcelona. and ended in December at the WiZink Center in Madrid after 31 shows. The tour would also visit Latin America in 2022.
2021-present: Acting venture and Alpha
A second dropplet era started in April 2021 with the release of the promotional single "Ni Una Más", dubbed as a "feminist anthem". It peaked at 37 on the Spanish charts. During the summer, Aitana collaborated with Fresquito and Mango on the remix of their track "Mándame Un Audio" and with novel artist Zzoilo on the remix of his debut single "Mon Amour". The latter one peaked at number one in Spain and held the position for six weeks, becoming Aitana's best chart performing single since 2018's "Vas a Quedarte". In the meantime, a duet with Evaluna Montaner, "Aunque No Sea Conmigo" was released as a single in late July, peaking at 55. In September, the singer released the solo track "Berlín". A fan favorite, it met a great performance on TikTok, peaking at fifteen in Spain. "Formentera", a duet with Nicki Nicole, "En El Coche", and "Otra Vez" were released during 2022 as singles off her newest album. Aitana was also part on the forthcoming records of Amaia, Cali y El Dandee, Melendi, Sangiovanni, Sebastián Yatra and Pablo Alborán.
Later that year, she starred as aspiring singer Candela in the Disney+ musical romantic drama La Última alongside Miguel Bernardeau. The five-episode television series follows Candela's relationship with aspiring boxer Diego (played by Bernardeau), which becomes strained after her career begins to overshadow his. Aitana co-wrote and produced most of the songs on the soundtrack for La Última. Its lead single, the title track "La Última", was released on 11 November 2022. The soundtrack contains 16 tracks, including eight original songs and another eight acoustic versions and received generally positive reviews. Aitana will also star alongside Fernando Guallar in the upcoming domestic film 2023 adaptation of Un peu, beaucoup, aveuglément, directed by Patricia Font.
On 3 March 2023, Aitana revealed the trailer for her upcoming studio album Alpha, alongside a tentative 2023 release date. Its lead single "Los Ángeles" was released on 31 March. On June 7, she released the second single from her third studio album, "Las Babys". "miamor", the third single from the album was released on August 25 featuring rapper Rels B. On August 28, it was announced that her album Alpha would be released on September 22 with the cover artwork being shown the day after and a fan presale starting on August 30 for some countries and on August 31 in Spain. On September 8, its tracklist was announced featuring 15 tracks. On October 1, she started the Alpha Tour across Spain, Portugal and Latin America.
In 2024, Aitana mentioned that she would begin preparing her fourth studio album. To do this, she traveled back to Los Angeles and Miami to meet with various producers. While working on new songs, she was the special guest of Sangiovanni at the Sanremo Music Festival (Italy), where she performed a version of "Farfalle". In January 2024, she visited the contestants of Operación Triunfo 2023, returning to the academy where her career began six years earlier. In April, she collaborated for the third time with Colombian artist Sebastián Yatra on the ballad "Akureyri", with the music video filmed in the Icelandic city of the same name. A month later, she featured on Sen Senra’s album PO2054AZ with the song "Hermosa Casualidad".
The singer-songwriter announced her first solo concert in a stadium, the Santiago Bernabéu, with a capacity of over 60,000 people, scheduled for December 2024. The tickets sold out in record time. A few months later, she announced a second concert at the same stadium, scheduled for the day after the original concert. However, due to soundproofing issues at the stadium, the concerts were postponed to June 2025.
In early July, she released the solo song "4TO 23", bringing back pop with new sounds like synthpop. A month later, she collaborated with British singer Sam Smith on a version of his song “"Like I Can" (2014), in both Spanish and English. In October, she received the Music award at the Bazaar Women of the Year 2024, presented by Harper’s Bazaar to the most influential women in various fields. She also collaborated on Quevedo’s album Buenas Noches with the track "Gran Vía", which debuted at number one on the most-streamed songs list on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music.
2025-present: Metamorfosis and Cuarto Azul
In January 2025, she initiated a new musical era for the forthcoming release of her fourth studio album. The first song from the album, "Segundo Intento", was released, featuring a sweet melody, dance elements, and a pop foundation. On February 28, her documentary Aitana: Metamorfosis premiered on Netflix, where the singer reveals intimate moments and reflects on her life since leaving Operación Triunfo. In March 2025, she released a second preview of her fourth album, a single with Puerto Rican artist Myke Towers, "Sentimiento Natural". The same month, she announced her limited stadium tour, Metamorfosis Season.
