Omar Apolonio Velasco (born May 20, 1997), known professionally as Omar Apollo, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. After signing a record deal with Warner Records, his debut album, Ivory, was released in 2022 to positive reviews and earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. Apollo sings in both English and Spanish.
Early life and career
Early life
Omar Apolonio Velasco was born on May 20, 1997, in Hobart, Indiana to Mexican parents who immigrated to the U.S. from Guadalajara.[4] He grew up in Indiana with his three older siblings.[5] Apollo's parents both worked multiple jobs to support the family.[6] As a child, Apollo was a ballet folklorico dancer and he was also a part of his Catholic church choir.[5]
At the age of 12, Apollo's parents bought him a guitar at his request; however, it was an electric guitar without a guitar amplifier. Apollo traded the electric guitar for an acoustic guitar at a pawn shop.[7] At age 17, he worked at McDonald's to save up enough money to buy a laptop and then a microphone which he used to learn how to sing and play by watching and mimicking YouTube cover videos.[8]
Apollo was also taught by his uncle and he played music at church;[7] he formed a short-lived band with a friend at the church.[1]
2017–2020: Career beginnings, breakthrough and debut mixtape Apolonio
Apollo performing in Brooklyn in December 2019
Apollo created and uploaded his songs to SoundCloud, a platform with DIY streaming.[5] At the time he worked at Jimmy John's and Guitar Center, and he lived in an attic.[9] In 2017, using $30 borrowed from a friend, he uploaded his song "Ugotme" to Spotify, where it was soon added to the platform's Fresh Finds and racked up 20,000 streams in a day.[5] A year later, the song had more than 15 million streams.[6]
He released his first EP, Stereo, in 2018, which was similarly well received.[2] In 2018 and 2019, Apollo went on two tours, the "Want Tour" and the "Voyager Tour." His second EP, Friends, was released in April 2019.[1][10] The EP featured production by rock producer John Shanks, who had previously worked with artists such as Michelle Branch and Melissa Etheridge.[1] Apollo is managed by Shanks' son, Dylan, whom he met over Twitter in July 2017 when the latter booked Apollo for a university show at NYU.[1][7] Apollo signed with Artists Without A Label earlier that year and performed at SXSW as part of a showcase with the group.[2] He went on a European tour in 2019 and played at Lollapalooza as well as Tropicália.[1][11] In late 2019, Apollo released the singles, "Frío" and "Hit Me Up" which are collaborations with producer Kenny Beats.[12][13] In April 2020, Apollo released the single "Imagine U", another collaboration with Kenny Beats.[14]
On August 7, 2020, Apollo released the lead single "Stayback" from his debut mixtape;[15] and two weeks later released a remix[16] featuring Bootsy Collins, whom Apollo has cited as an influence.[17] On September 10, he released the second single "Kamikaze."[18] On September 25, Apollo appeared on alternative R&B Japanese singer Joji's second album Nectar on the track "High Hopes."[19] Apollo released two more singles, "Dos Uno Nueve (219)" and "Want U Around" (featuring Ruel) before releasing his first mixtape Apolonio on October 16, 2020.[20]
In 2021, Apollo released the single "Go Away", including a music video and a live performance on The Tonight Show.[23][24] He followed up with the single "Bad Life" featuring Kali Uchis, their second collaboration; "Hey Boy" from Apolonio was the first.[25] In February 2022, Apollo released the single "Invincible" featuring Daniel Caesar and announced the release date for his debut album.[26] The next month he released the singles "Killing Me" which included a live performance on The Tonight Show as well as "Tamagotchi," which was co-written and produced by The Neptunes.[27] With the release of "Tamagotchi", Apple Music Up Next selected him as its featured artist for the month in April 2022.
Apollo released his debut studio album Ivory on April 8, 2022, and embarked on the Desvelado tour supporting the album. The album received mostly positive reviews with praises going towards Apollo's musical growth and vocal performance.[28] It entered the Billboard 200 chart, marking his first-ever entry on the chart.[29] The deluxe version of the album, Ivory (Marfil), was released on August 12, 2022.[30] In September 2022, the track "Evergreen" went viral on TikTok which helped boost the song to enter the Spotify and Apple Music charts and eventually debut on Billboard Hot 100 at number 62 for the week ending of October 1, 2022, earning Apollo his first-ever entry on the chart.[31][32][33] In response to the rapid success, the song was chosen as the album's next single and was sent to contemporary hit radio on October 4, 2022, making it his first-ever radio single.[34]
In April 2024, Omar released the single "Spite," the first release from his second album God Said No.[39] This was followed by the May 16 release of the second single "Dispose of Me".
The 14-track set was written over the course of a three-month stay in London in 2023, and was inspired by poets Mary Oliver, Victoria Chang, and Ocean Vuong. God Said No was recorded in London's Abbey Road Studios with executive producer Teo Halm with features from Mustafa and actor Pedro Pascal. The title was inspired by a friend's assessment of his recently ended relationship, which Apollo described as "I gave it my everything, and God said 'no.'" The album was released on June 28, 2024.[40] In September 2024, Apollo made his acting debut in the Luca Guadagnino film Queer.
In December 2024, Omar was named as part of Forbes magazine's 30 Under 30 Music 2025 list.[41]
Apollo's parents encouraged him to attend college; however Apollo dropped out after two weeks to pursue a musical career.[8] He has Mexican citizenship.[47]
Apollo is gay and has denied queerbaiting allegations saying, 'It's not a choice, it's just what I am. [...] I'm totally aware of the privilege we have now to be ourselves and still have a career [...] people thought I was queerbaiting before. I wasn't super open about my sexuality, but people were hearing things. [...] It had a lot to do with me growing up in Indiana which is very conservative. I stopped putting pronouns in my music for a couple of years then I just realized, I can't let other people's opinions influence and dictate my life.[48][49] In an interview in 2022, Apollo said, "I feel like in the beginning, [...] I was trying to keep the mystique. But I don't even care anymore [...] now I'm just like, I'm very gay."[50][42][51]
Discography
Omar Apollo discography
Studio albums
2
EPs
3
Singles
30
Music videos
17
Mixtapes
1
Reissue
1
Other charted songs
2
Guest appearances
5
Studio albums
List of albums, with selected details and chart positions
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