World Music Day 2023: Ten La Liga players who moved into the world of music

And when it comes to Spanish football, there are many footballers who have taken a shift from football to the world of music.

La Liga footballers have tried their hand at music over the years, either during their playing careers or after. June 21st marks World Music Day and, with this in mind, let’s take a look at just some of the players who have swapped their boots for beats over the years.

Asier Villalibre

When Athletic Club won the Spanish Super Cup in 2021, Asier Villalibre starred in a viral video by playing the trumpet inside the stadium. This led to the creation of a rock band called Orsai, in which Villalibre leads the way and sings along with the support of other Athletic Club players such as Iñigo Lekue, Mikel Balenziaga, Dani García, Mikel Vesga and Óscar de Marcos. Their first track had the title of One Club Men, referring to the special award that Athletic Club give out every year. Villalibre was on loan at Deportivo Alavés in 2022/23 and brought out the trumpet once more, after scoring the dramatic last-gasp penalty that secured promotion for the Basque club.

Borja Iglesias

Another LaLiga Santander striker who is very musical is Borja Iglesias. The Real Betis player really likes rap music and he himself had a 40-second solo in a track from Eldoblezero, in which famous streamer Ibai Llanos also collaborated. He also attends music festivals each year during the summer months.

Sergio Ramos

As a keen fan of flamenco, the former Real Madrid player has long loved singing and playing the guitar. Ramos has regularly expressed his love for music and has revealed that he often unwinds by writing his own songs. He has also contributed to the official songs for the Spanish national team’s Euro 2016 and 2018 World Cup campaigns, collaborating with world-famous artists like Niña Pastori and Demarco.

Jesé

The Real Madrid youth graduate has long been interested in music and, in 2014, formed a reggaeton band with close friend DJ Nuno. The group, Big Flow, released tracks through YouTube to some success and it wasn’t long before Jesé went solo and started to release his own music under the name Jey M, donating profits from his music to research into disease prevention.

José Manuel Pinto

José Manuel Pinto founded his own music label – Wahin Makinaciones, based on his stage name Pinto ‘Wahin’ – while he was still playing football for RC Celta and before making the move to join Pep Guardiola’s FC Barcelona. He has performed in various songs and also had great success as a producer. Having gained a university degree in sound engineering and a master’s in musical production, Pinto was among the engineers who worked on Niña Pastori’s Ámame Como Soy, which won the 2016 Latin Grammy for Best Flamenco Album.

Royston Drenthe

Royston Drenthe, the former Real Madrid winger, launched a rap career under the name Roya2Faces. For those who knew him best, this came as no surprise; Drenthe had a long-standing interest in rap music and has many friends in the industry, most notably U-Niq who, like Drenthe, hails from Rotterdam and who taught him how to write music.

Julio Iglesias

Julio Iglesias is one of the most famous singers in Spain and across the Spanish-speaking world and in 2013 was recognised by the Guinness World Records as the best-selling male Latin artist in history. Impressively, his 1983 album Julio was the first foreign-language album to hit the two million sales mark in the USA. Before this music career, though, the Madrid native played football for Real Madrid Castilla, Los Blancos’ B team. An injury cut his footballing career short, however, and opened up a new door into the music world. Every cloud…

Álvaro Benito

The story of Álvaro Benito shares many parallels to that of Julio Iglesias. Benito also came through Real Madrid’s youth ranks, in his case as a promising midfielder, and he made 21 LaLiga Santander appearances for the first team across the 1995/96 and 1996/97 seasons. He even scored a couple of goals. However, he too was plagued by injury and had to retire from football at the age of 27, at which point he founded a punk rock band called Pignoise, for which he is lead singer and guitarist. Influenced by Green Day and Blink-182, they’ve released eight albums to date.

Germán Burgos

The former Atlético de Madrid goalkeeper and assistant coach is another big music fan, in his case of rock music. Lead singer of rock band GARB since the 1990s, the group released a couple of Spanish-language albums in the early noughties as his playing career was winding down. Fun fact: the name GARB comes from the initials of Burgos’s full name, Germán Adrián Ramón Burgos.

Gaizka Mendieta

Following his retirement from football, former Valencia CF, FC Barcelona and Spain midfielder Gaizka Mendieta turned to DJing in 2008 with great success. He regularly plays sets across London, and has even been invited to DJ in the build-up to Champions League finals. Mendieta, today a LaLiga Ambassador, was regularly seen in record stores during his playing days and now dedicates a lot of time to his second passion in life.