Bertín Osborne
Who is Bertín Osborne?
Bertín Osborne was born in Madrid on December 7, 1953. He left school at 16 after failing his pre-university exams and left home, working a string of jobs — real estate broker, shipping agent, insurance agent, sales representative — while singing at night in discotheques. Before establishing himself as a singer, he spent close to three years in the United States, where he appeared in a handful of film productions.
Career
He began gaining attention in the late 1970s performing in shows on the French Riviera. In 1980 he signed with EMI and released his debut album, “Amor mediterráneo,” a year later, made up of ballads, some of them his own compositions. “Como un vagabundo” followed in 1982, led by the track “Abrázame,” and in 1983 he represented Spain at the San Remo Festival with “Eterna malattia,” finishing eighth and winning the critics’ award for best male voice. In 1984 he released “Tal como soy,” featuring the song “Noches de San Juan,” and in 1988 his sixth album, “Vida o castigo,” for which he personally wrote 80% of the lyrics and music.
Alongside his music, he built a long career as a television host, starting in 1992 on Tele 5 with a game show, and continuing with programmes such as “La guerra de las estrellas,” alongside Arancha del Sol, and the summer show “Veraneantes,” filmed in Ibiza with Remedios Cervantes. In 1994 he signed with Antena 3.
Personal life
Osborne married Sandra Domecq Williams in July 1977. Their first son, Cristian, died a few days after birth from a liver malformation; the couple also had daughters Alejandra, Eugenia and Claudia. They separated in 1988, and Sandra Domecq died of cancer in 2004. Osborne remarried in 2006 to Venezuelan model Fabiola Martínez, with whom he has two sons, one of whom was born prematurely with health complications that required several operations.