Camila Cabello

Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao (/kəˈmiːlə kəˈbeɪoʊ/; Spanish: [kaˈmila kaˈbeʎo]; born March 3, 1997) is a Cuban-American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which was formed on the second season of the American edition of The X Factor in 2012, and thereafter signed to a joint record deal with Syco Music and Epic Records for their music releases.

While a part of Fifth Harmony, Cabello began to establish herself as a solo artist with the release of several collaborations, including "I Know What You Did Last Summer" with Shawn Mendes and "Bad Things" with Machine Gun Kelly, the latter reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. After leaving the group in December 2016, Cabello released her debut solo single "Crying in the Club" to a modest commercial performance. Refocusing her sound to Latin-influenced music thereafter, her eponymous debut studio album Camila (2018) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, with its lead single "Havana" topping the charts in several countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States. The second single "Never Be the Same" also reached the top 10 in several countries.

Early life Cabello was born in Cojimar, Eastern Havana, Cuba, to Sinuhe Estrabao and Alejandro Cabello. Her father was born in Mexico City and is a Mexican who moved to Cuba. For most of her early life, Cabello and her family moved back and forth between Havana and Mexico City, before relocating to Miami, Florida, in the United States when Cabello was aged five. Cabello acquired American citizenship in 2008. She attended Miami Palmetto High School but left in the 2012–2013 school year, while she was in 9th grade, to pursue her singing career. She later earned her high school diploma.

CareerCamila Cabello auditioned for The X Factor in Greensboro, North Carolina with Aretha Franklin's "Respect", however, her audition was not aired because the series did not get the rights for the song. After elimination during the "bootcamp" portion of the process in Miami, Florida, Cabello was called back to the stage along with other contestants Ally Brooke, Normani, Lauren Jauregui, and Dinah Jane to form the girl group that would later become known as Fifth Harmony. After finishing in third place on the show they signed a joint deal with Syco Music, owned by Simon Cowell, and Epic Records, L.A. Reid's record label.

The group released the EP Better Together (2013) along with the studio albums Reflection (2015) and 7/27 (2016). The latter two generated the singles "Worth It" and "Work from Home", respectively, which reached the top 10 in several international charts. From 2013 through the end of 2016, Cabello performed in various Fifth Harmony tours.

On December 18, 2016, the group announced Cabello's departure, with both parts explaining contradictory circumstances of the exit. She appeared in a previously taped performance with the group on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. Writing about Cabello's time on the group, a Billboard journalist noted it is "rather uncommon for someone to stand out in a collective as much as Cabello has over the past years.

In November 2015, Cabello collaborated with Canadian singer Shawn Mendes on a duet titled "I Know What You Did Last Summer", a song they wrote together. The single charted at number 20 in the US and 18 in Canada, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). On October 14, 2016, American rapper Machine Gun Kelly released a joint single with Cabello called "Bad Things", which reached a peak of number four on the US Billboard Hot 100. Time.com included her on "The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2016" list.

On January 25, 2017, "Love Incredible", a collaboration with Norwegian DJ Cashmere Cat, leaked online. The official version of the song was released on February 16, and later featured on Cashmere's debut studio album, 9. Cabello recorded "Hey Ma" with Pitbull and J Balvin for The Fate of the Furious: The Album. The Spanish version of the single and its music video were released on March 10, 2017, and the English version was released on April 6. The singer was also featured on a collaboration with Major Lazer, Travis Scott and Quavo, for the song "Know No Better". In May 2017, Cabello announced the future release of her first studio album, at the time titled The Hurting. The Healing. The Loving., which she described as "the story of my journey from darkness into light, from a time when I was lost to a time when I found myself again." Her first solo single "Crying in the Club" was released on May 19, 2017, followed by a performance at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards. The single peaked at number 47 in the United States. She joined Bruno Mars' 24K Magic World Tour as an opening act for several of its dates, and also partnered with clothing brand Guess as the face for their 2017 Fall campaign.

New writing and recording sessions for her album were influenced by the success of her single "Havana", which postponed its original release date. Upon its release, the single reached number one in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Hungary and the United States. It also spent seven weeks atop the US Mainstream Top 40 airplay chart. The song became Spotify's most-streamed song ever by a solo female artist in June 2018 (over 888 million streams). Titled Camila, her debut album is a pop record containing Latin-influenced songs and ballads. Camila was released on January 12, 2018 and debuted at number one in the United States with 119,000 album-equivalent units, including 65,000 from pure album sales. The album was eventually certified platinum in the country. "Never Be the Same" was released as the second single, later becoming her third top 10 entry on the Hot 100. "Havana" and "Never Be the Same" made Cabello the first artist to top the Mainstream Top 40 and Adult Top 40 airplay charts with the first two singles from a debut studio album. In April 2018, Cabello embarked on the Never Be the Same Tour, her first as a solo artist. In May 2018, she began performing as the opening act for Taylor Swift's Reputation Tour in between the European leg of the Never Be the Same Tour. She headlined an arena for the first time on July 31, 2018 at the Mohegun Sun Arena.

Artistry Camila Cabello is mainly a pop and R&B singer, influenced by Latin music. She incorporated elements of reggaeton, hip hop and dancehall in her first album. Growing up, Cabello listened to artists such as Alejandro Fernández and Celia Cruz. For her first record she took inspiration from contemporary Latin artists such as Calle 13 and J Balvin, and from the songwriting of Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift. She has also cited Michael Jackson, Rihanna and Shakira as influences.

Philanthropy On February 28, 2016, Cabello announced she had partnered with Save the Children to design a limited-edition "Love Only" T-shirt to help raise awareness of issues involving girls' equal access to education, health care and opportunities to succeed. In June 2016, Cabello, producer Benny Blanco, and members of the nonprofit arts organization OMG Everywhere helped to create the charity single "Power in Me". Cabello has also partnered with the Children's Health Fund, a non-profit dedicated to providing healthcare to low-income families with children.

In late 2017, Cabello joined Lin-Manuel Miranda and multiple other Latin artists on the song "Almost Like Praying" to benefit those in Puerto Rico who were affected by Hurricane Maria.