Lola Flores was born María de los Dolores Flores Ruiz in Jerez de la Frontera on January 21st, 1923. Her family were poor and from as young as ten she would earn a few pesetas pocket money by singing in the local bars. At the age of fifteen, Lola was in a group with other artists who formed a variety show: "Mary Paz" and in 1940 she managed to convince her father to sell the bar he owned and move the family to Madrid.

La Paula, a gypsy dancer renown for her bulerias lived in the old flamenco district in Málaga known as El Perchel. Born in 1902 at number 16 Calle de los Negros, La Paula was the daughter of guitarist, Matias Garcia, and dancer, Antonia Fernádez.

Pastora Maria Pavon Cruz was born on the 10th February 1890 in Calle Butrón in Seville and she died on the 26th November 1969 after a long illness. Pastora Pavon is probably the most important female voice in the history of the flamenco song and she gained her nick-name of Niña de los Peines after a style of tango she sang that contained the words “Comb your hair with my combs, they are the sweetest things”.

La Fernanda de Utrera had a special voice that was full of a gravelly emotion similar to that found in the old blues singers like Billie Holliday or Bessie Smith. Singers of flamenco seem to gain a unique quality to their voices with age, and the riper the age the more ardent their voices become.

Julio Iglesias will be perfoming at the Starlite Festival in Marbella on 3 August for which you can buy tickets here. The world famous Spanish singer Julio Iglesias has deep roots in southern Spain. Although he was born in Madrid on September 23, 1943, his maternal grandfather Jose de la Cueva was pure Andaluz and a well known journalist in southern Spain.

Juan Talega was a singer whose roots were in Alcalá de Guadaira, but he spent his life in Dos Hermanas, a small town just outside of Seville. His rough, no frills, gypsy voice is one of the darkest and most haunting voices in the history of this ancient art.

Joaquin Pedraja Reyes was born in Cordoba in 1969 and, as a young gypsy, was encouraged to dance by his uncle Cristóbal Reyes. He started to learn the basics of dance when he was twelve but it was when he went to Madrid that his passion for the dance really began.

Juan Manuel Fernandez Montoya was born in Seville in 1982, son of flamenco singer El Moreno and dancer La Farruca. He is also the grandson of one of the greatest dancers in the history of flamenco, El Farruco, which gives him a flamenco background that is second to none.

Enrique Jiménez Ramirez, known as Enrique de Melchor, was born in Marchena in 1951. However he only lived there until he was twelve when he went to Madrid where his father was the resident guitarist in Manolo Caracol's flamenco tablao, called Los Canasteros.

Fernando Peña Soto, El Pinini, was born in Lebrija, Seville, in 1863 and he was the head of one of the biggest and most important flamenco families of the last two hundred years. El Pinini is an almost mythical character that invented his own personal styles of algerias and cantiñas, which have been continued by other members of this large gypsy clan.

El Planeta was born in 1785 in Jerez de la Frontera and he is another of the early singers of which we know very little. Even his place of birth is disputed, some say he was born in Puerto Real; others put his birth town as Arcos de la Frontera.

Antonio Montoya Flores, El Farruco, was a gypsy dancer of no schooling who performed the most deep-rooted gypsy style of flamenco dance. He was born in Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, in 1935 and is part of the great Montoya dynasty whose members include the guitarist Ramon Montoya, El Farruco`s grandfather.

One of the best and most established guitarists from Málaga is Jose Antonio Conejo Vida, alias El Chaparro de Málaga. Born in 1971 this guitarist has played for some of the best flamencos in the business, including Miguel Poveda, La Cañeta de Málaga, Chano Lobato, Remedios Amaya, and Cancanilla de Marbella, with whom he still regularly performs.

José Losada Sanchez (or El Carrete as he is artistically known) is one of Málaga's most flamboyant flamenco artists. He has toured Europe with some of flamenco's most outstanding dancers including Antonio Gades and La Chunga and today he rubs shoulders with some of the most illustrious flamenco artists of these times.

Francisco Ortega Vargas was born in Puerta Real, Cadiz in 1820, although he seemed to have led the normal gypsy existence, traveling between Cadiz and Seville performing his cante in the many taverns and inns along the route.

This gypsy guitarist was born at Nº 8 Calle Ronda in Arriate, Málaga, and at an early age moved with his family to Gastor, the place from where he took his artistic name. Diego Amaya Flores left Gastor when he was just ten years old, and went to live in Moron de la Frontera with his family, where his father, who was a wealthy horse and cattle dealer, had several businesses.

Diego Jiménez Salazar was born in Madrid in 1968 and today he has become one of the top cantaores (singers of flamenco) in Spain. He was given the name of El Cigala by another legend from the flamenco world, Camaron de la Isla, a man that El Cigala had much respect and admiration for.

Singer Diana Navarro from Málaga already has a title for her new autumn CD: “The Green Path”. This is meant to pay homage to her most admired flamenco singers. However, not all of them fit, which is why her intuition tells her this is one project that will have a part two.

Since your first disc Corazón Latino was released you have not stopped collecting national and international prizes and awards from the music world. How does David Bisbal, being so young and with such a relatively short professional career, live with so much success? Well, the truth is that I really can’t complain. Things have gone well, that’s for sure, but it’s hard work; there’s no other way to do it.

Daniel Casares is an extremely talented young flamenco guitarist born in Estepona, Málaga, in 1980. He discovered at an early age that he had a natural talent for playing the guitar, and his passion was fuelled by the music that he listened to at home as a child.