Rosa López: "The one that closed the most doors was myself"

There was a time when for Rosa López being able to sit quietly on a bench to devour pipes for five minutes was a real luxury.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
02 April 2023 Sunday 21:52
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Rosa López: "The one that closed the most doors was myself"

There was a time when for Rosa López being able to sit quietly on a bench to devour pipes for five minutes was a real luxury. Her participation and her victory in the first edition of the musical talent Operación triunfo in 2001 and her subsequent Eurovision experience, turned the artist from Granada into a phenomenon. She turned 21 in the program and it was Alejo Stivel from the jury who one day baptized her with the nickname of Rosa de España, without knowing that that label would never leave her again.

Undoubtedly, many things have happened in Rosa's life in these two decades. The singer, who is now 42 years old, experienced a true emotional tsunami with intense early years in the industry, and a more recent career in which she has made a change in her way of thinking, leaving behind that insecure contestant riddled with complexes. that we met on TV.

To begin with, when she remembers the vortex of those initial years, the interpreter from Granada is the first to make self-criticism: "Logically there were people who took advantage of the moment or innocence, but the one that closed the most doors was myself, due to ignorance of things ”, he admits in a talk for La Vanguardia.

Rosa López knows that, for many years, the main saboteur of her life, and even of her professional career, was herself. “The easiest thing is to blame someone else, and the most mature thing is that, even if you are not to blame, try to solve what is happening. I try to be happy and positive in my life, and I think that with this attitude you are already helping others ”, she reaffirms.

Many things have changed since, despite starting to sing when she was only 13 years old, she made the media leap thanks to television and became part of a sector that she was completely unaware of. It was a time when record companies and other agents were fighting to have Rosa in their ranks. Today's landscape is also very different for her, to the point that she is an independent artist who works for herself, with no company behind her. Of course, the Andalusian has her own guardian angels: "I have managed to have an incredible team that has made my career resurface again," she confesses.

One of those pillars that is in her life is her boy Iñaki García, whom she met during a concert and with whom she has now had a solid relationship for more than three years. “We both feel complete and share fullness. I am very much in love, and not from the perspective of 15 years, but rather it is a precious love that I had never experienced, ”Rosa admits for this medium.

Together they make a good team, and he has been a key piece for the self-esteem of an artist who, since 2019, has been preparing her ninth studio album that will be released in the coming weeks. It will be titled 1930 , the same as the last single released on the market, a song with which he wants to pay tribute to the Danish artist Lili Elbe, who, precisely in that year, underwent a sex change operation, one of the pioneers in taking this step. "The song is inspired by a cry for freedom for people, it talks about loving yourself and breaking the chains that have to be broken," explains the artist.

The theme does not have an official clip for now and the story behind it is somewhat crude. López denounces in the interview that he contacted many brands to try to finance his audiovisual work, but by surprise he found many closed doors due to the theme of the song or because they did not want political problems with the transsexual collective.

The singer even denounces insults and attacks of homophobia, but she is clear that this has given her the strength to push forward with the project, to the point that 1930 will be her own personal brand, with part of the merchandising, and will give her name to the tour and the disk.

After more than two decades in the music sector, Rosa is clear that she chose her path well: "I don't live on applause, it's not even economical, for me music is something that goes beyond," she expresses excitedly. And she doesn't mind continuing to be Rosa de España because she knows that the essence remains the same, although something has changed in her gaze. This time she no longer lowers it to anyone.