Kriti Mehrotra
It was on December 11, 1966, when Yurena was born in Barakaldo in the Basque Country, Spain, to Margarita Seisdedos Santos and Floreal Cuena Ruiz as María del Mar Cuena Seisdedos. She was truly the apple of her parents’ eyes, so of course, they unwaveringly supported her when she decided to pursue her passion for music as a career, unaware she would end up becoming a pop sensation. However, it’s imperative to note that her time in the limelight has been marred by a lot of national scandals over the years, making us wonder more about her core professional path as well as her overall net worth.
How Did Yurena Earn Her Money?
Yurena was 24 when she decided to take her interests a lot more seriously and began working towards launching herself as a singer while under the banner of professional vocal coach Concha Jiménez. She garnered significant learnings from him over a period of three years in the neighborhood of Las Arenas in Getxo, took on the stage name Tamara, and started performing at local pubs as well as theaters. She debuted at the Libredon in the small town of Portugalete in July 1991, singing only covers of well-known songs, owing to the fact that she didn’t really know who she was as an artist. This pattern continued on until 1993, that is, until Tamara finally figured out her voice and her vision, driving her to start working on her own album full of original compositions/productions.
It was in the Northern Studies in Portugalete that she carefully built her first studio album before naming it ‘A por ti’ (literal translation: For You) and releasing it into the world that same year. She subsequently became her own manager, booked every possible radio show or stage gig she could all across the nation, and ultimately chose to settle down in Madrid for more opportunities. That’s when Tamara’s career really took off as she formed a trio with musicians Tony Genil and Leonardo Dantés before appearing on various network television shows to promote their work. The initial response to her was lukewarm since critics could understand the hype of her talent yet failed to see charm in her awkward movements, quite unlike fans and the LGBTQ+ community.
However, no one could have imagined the focus would quickly shift to her personal life, every aspect of which was highlighted with her regular appearances on the talk show ‘Crónicas Marcianas.’ Thus, she often found herself being made into cruel tabloid headlines or embroiled in cutting controversies. Nevertheless, Tamara did her best not to let it affect her music, releasing her debut single from her debut album “A por ti” in 2000, which spent 10 weeks at #1 and achieved a Gold certification. This song is also known as “No cambié,” and she followed this national sensation up with two full-length albums, one after another in 2001 – ‘Planeta Tamara’ as well as ‘Tamara Superestar.’
She did so despite finding herself in one scandal after another because she could see that she had a large club following, with many even considering her a disco or an LGBTQ+ community icon. This was actually to such an extent that Tamara is credited with being one of the few women to ever be on the cover of the now-defunct LGBTQ+-themed magazine Zero – she was on issue #23. However, everything changed when she was sued over her stage name by bolero singer Tamara Serrano since it concluded with her being asked to give up the identity she had built her empire on. She did briefly use the stage name Ambar before ultimately settling on Yurena, under which she released a few great songs as well as remixes, but things didn’t pan out for her personally.
After she and her mother were brutally and needlessly attacked on the streets of Madrid, she announced her retirement. According to records, Yurena stepped away from singing entirely and decided to make her living as the owner-operator of a nightclub named Glam Street in the neighborhood of Malasaña in Madrid. She ran this business for around 5 years before suddenly finding her passion for music all over again and stepping into the recording studio in the early 2010s with brand new ideas. She released two singles in English in 2012, followed by another 3 in Spanish over two years, which surprisingly propelled her to unimaginable success in China. Thus, she did two tours there, made a documentary about her experiences, and then evolved into a dance icon with her 2016 album ‘Around the World.’
Yurena’s Net Worth
Considering the fact that Yurena has been active in the entertainment industry since 1990, it goes without saying that she has managed to accumulate significant wealth for herself. She has understandably never been open about her precise income. Yet, from what we can tell, the majority of it comes from royalties on her original music as well as her several concert tours. It’s extremely difficult to calculate these since every song and concert show of hers has a different level of consumption/market success, but taking her discography, experience, and reputation into account, she likely makes at least $100,ooo per year from these avenues. After all, she has multiple singles and five full-length studio albums under her belt as of writing.
As for Tamara’s appearances on various television shows over the years, her China tour documentary, the drama mini-series ‘Superstar’ inspired by her life, and the Netflix documentary ‘I Am Still a Superstar,’ she has definitely gained a lot from these platforms too. However, once again, it is almost impossible to ascertain the exact cumulative or long-term total amount she bagged by being a part of as well as probably having a lifetime profit share agreement for these projects. Therefore, considering all these aspects, along with her potential assets, investments, and returns, we believe her net worth to be in the range of $7 million.
Read More: Margarita Seisdedos Santos: How Did Yurena’s Mother Die?
