Carlos Marín

Carlos Marín Menchero was a Spanish baritone born on 13 October 1968 in Rüsselsheim, West Germany, and raised in Madrid, Spain. He died on 19 December 2021 at the age of 53. He is best known as a member of the classical crossover quartet Il Divo, which sold over 28 million records worldwide, and appeared on Broadway in 2013 in Il Divo - A Musical Affair.

Marín's musical life began at an early age. At eight years old he recorded his first album, The Little Caruso, produced by Dutch singer-songwriter and record producer Pierre Kartner, which included songs such as "O Sole Mio" and "Granada." That same year he performed "Granada" before an audience of 800 people. Two years later, at age ten, he recorded a second album titled Mijn Lieve Mama (My Dear Mother). During this period he lived in Eindhoven, Netherlands, before returning to Spain at age twelve. His early recordings led him to study piano and solfeggio. Back in Spain, he won awards on television contests including "Gente Joven" and "Nueva Gente" on TVE, Spanish Television, at age fifteen and again in his twenties, and began performing on live television accompanied by an orchestra.

As his career developed, Marín competed in several music contests, including the "Jacinto Guerrero," "Francisco Alonso," and "Julián Gayarre" competitions, placing second among male performers in the Gayarre contest in 1996. He took vocal lessons with Alfredo Kraus, Montserrat Caballé, and Jaume Aragall. His stage work in musicals began in 1993 when he played Marius in Les Misérables. Subsequent roles included Vince Fontaine in Grease, and appearances in Beauty and the Beast, El Diluvio Que Viene, and Man from La Mancha, where he covered for José Sacristán. He also participated in La Magia De Broadway and Peter Pan, the latter of which he co-directed musically with Alberto Quintero. An accident during Beauty and the Beast left him with a ruptured tendon in his calf, requiring six months of recovery.

Marín also established himself in opera, performing as primo baritono in productions including La Traviata, The Barber of Seville, La Bohème, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Madame Butterfly. His opera credits included Mercutio at the Campoamor theater in Oviedo and Don Giglio in La Capricciosa Corretta. He participated in zarzuela performances at the Jardines de Sabatini in Madrid, taking on roles such as Felipe in La Revoltosa and Julián in La Verbena de la Paloma. His voice was also featured in Henry Selick's animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas, and he provided the Prince's singing voice for the Spanish-language version of Disney's Cinderella, produced in 2000.

In December 2003, Marín became a member of Il Divo alongside Urs Bühler of Switzerland, Sébastien Izambard of France, and David Miller of the United States. The group's self-titled debut album was released in November 2004, entered the Billboard charts at number four, and sold five million copies worldwide in under a year. Their subsequent studio albums included Ancora (2005), Siempre (2006), The Promise (2008), which reached number one in the United Kingdom, Wicked Game (2011), A Musical Affair (2013), Amor & Pasión (2015), Timeless (2018), and For Once In My Life: A Celebration of Motown (2021). In 2011, Il Divo received the Classical Brit Award for Artist of the Decade. That same year the group was named Musical Ambassador in Japan and recorded "Time to Say Goodbye" for the Japanese film Andalucia. It was with Il Divo's A Musical Affair production that Marín made his Broadway appearance in 2013.

Alongside his work with Il Divo, Marín pursued a solo concert career. He gave four solo performances at the Compac Gran Via Theater in Madrid in June 2011, followed by concerts in Campeche, Mexico in 2014, Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico in 2015, Madrid in 2015, and Mexico City's Teatro Metropolitan in 2016, which launched his first world tour spanning the United States, Spain, Mexico, South America, and Japan. In September 2016 he released his first solo DVD and CD worldwide, recorded during a six-night sold-out run at the Compac Gran Via Theater in Madrid in January 2016.

In his personal life, Marín married Geraldine Larrosa at Disneyland in California in June 2006, following a thirteen-year relationship. They divorced in early 2009. On 7 December 2021, Marín was hospitalized in Manchester, England, after contracting a virus during Il Divo's first Christmas tour since 2020. He was placed in a medically induced coma and died on 19 December 2021. His sister confirmed he had been vaccinated. A wake was held in Madrid on 27 December 2021, followed by a funeral on 28 December. Marín was buried at the Cementerio de la Almudena in Madrid, and a memorial service took place on 3 June 2022 in the crypt of the Almudena Cathedral.