María Gabriela Villalba Jervis (born September 21, 1984, in

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

) is an

Ecuadorian Ecuadorians ( es, ecuatorianos) are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collect ...

singer and actress. She is also known as Gaby de K. K refers to Kiruba and

Kudai Kudai are a Chilean pop rock band from Santiago, Chile, formed in early 2000. The group is composed of Pablo Holman, Bábara Sepúlveda, Tomás Manzi, and Nicole Natalino, who left the group in 2006 citing personal reasons, and was replaced by ...

, two musical bands she was a member of.

Biography

Early life

Gabriela Villalba was born in Quito, Ecuador on September 20, 1984. Her full birth name is María Gabriela Villalba Jervis. Her nickname is Gaby and she has seven brothers: Juan Carlos, Ricardo, Diego, Sandra, Mateo, Tiago and Alessandro. Her parents are Juan Carlos Villalba and Paulina Jervis. Gabriela studied at Jacques Cousteau High School in Guangopolo, a rural community outside of Quito. Gaby started in world of media by doing TV commercials at a very young age. Her solo album was released in 2011.

Kiruba

Her fame stardom started when she was chosen to participate in the Ecuadorian version of the reality show ''

Popstars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Realit ...

''. She won and became a part of the best selling Ecuadorian girl band Kiruba. They sold 20,000 copies of their debut album. The band lasted two years after that, recording two studio albums '' Kiruba'' and '' Baila La Luna''.

TV star and solo career

After the disintegration of the group in 2005, Gabriela starred in a Colombian soap opera entitled ''Al Ritmo De Tu Corazón'' (''To The Rhythm Of Your Heart''), where she also sang and composed the main theme song for the show. Several producers offered her an opportunity to launch her career as a soloist. Villalba released her debut album '' Todo Bien'' (''Everything's Fine'') in 2005. Her first and only single " Me Doy Vueltas" ("I Turn In Circles") became a moderate hit in

''Todo Bien'' (''Everything's Fine'') track list

# Un Contacto ("A Contact") # Todo Bien ("Everything's Fine") # Me Doy Vueltas ("I Turn In Circles") # Vuelve A Mí ("Come Back To Me") # Tantos Besos ("Lots Of Kisses") # Eres Linda ("You're a Beautiful Girl") # Soñaré ("I'll Dream") # Dame Tu Mano ("Give Me Your Hand") # Sin Palabras ("Wordless") # Quisiera ("I Wish")

Kudai

On May 30, 2006, in Quito, Radio ''Exa'' invited Gaby to be the opening act of Chilean pop rock band

while the group was touring in

. Kudai's manager was amazed by Villalba's vocals and decided to ask her to temporarily replace one of the absent singers. One month later,

Nicole Natalino Nicole Monserrat Natalino Torres (born March 5, 1989) is a Chilean singer who is a current member of Chilean pop rock band Kudai (previously known as Ciao). She had left the group voluntarily in 2006, and in 2008 made a comeback with her solo mu ...

made public her departure from

, and in August 2006 Gabriela officially became part of the group. Kudai disbanded in 2010. Six years later, the band made a comeback with only its original members, thus excluding Villalba.

Discography

Albums

References

External links

"Me Doy Vueltas" (I Turn In Circles)
Official Video in

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

.
"Al Ritmo De Tu Corazón" (At The Rhythm Of Your Heart)
Official Video in

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Villalba, Gabriela 1984 births Living people People from Quito Ecuadorian pop singers Ecuadorian telenovela actresses 21st-century Ecuadorian women singers