| Nico Santos | |
| Birth Name: | Nico Wellenbrink |
| Birth Date: | 7 January 1993 |
| Birth Place: | Bremen, Germany |
| Occupation: | Singer-songwriter |
| Genre: | Pop |
| Label: | Universal |
Nico Wellenbrink (born 7 January 1993), professionally known as Nico Santos or occasionally as Santos or Santi, is a German singer-songwriter. In 2017, after having been featured on Topic's hit "Home" (2015), he released his breakthrough solo single "Rooftop", which reached the top five in German-speaking Europe, Poland and Slovakia, as well as number one in the Czech Republic. It also received several certifications, including triple gold by the German (BVMI) and quintuple platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry Switzerland (IFPI SWI). Santos' debut studio album, Streets of Gold, was issued in October 2018 and yielded other moderately successful singles alongside "Rooftop", such as "Safe" (2018) and "Unforgettable" (2019).
In May 2020, Universal Music Group released his self-titled second record, which fared well commercially and featured three top 40 hits on the German singles chart—"Better" (2019), "Play with Fire" (2019) and "Like I Love You" (2020). While the former was a collaboration with Lena Meyer-Landrut and the latter with Topic, respectively, "Play with Fire" notably reached number 11 in the Czech Republic. Another top 10, "Would I Lie to You", followed in 2021 in the territory, the same year as Santos released the single "Leere Hände" ("Empty Hands") to great commercial success in German-speaking Europe under his last name only. Santos collaborated again with Topic in 2022 on "In Your Arms (For an Angel)", which was listed on Billboard Euro Digital Singles Sales and Hot Dance/Electronic Songs charts, among others.
Apart from his solo releases, Santos has co-written or produced songs for a number of German artists, including Bushido, Shindy, Helene Fischer and Mark Forster. His visibility was aided by his participation in the German international song competition Free European Song Contest 2020, which he won with the song "Like I Love You", as well as by his involvement as a coach on The Voice of Germany from its ninth season to the eleventh season.
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
[1] | [2] | [3] | ||||
| Streets of Gold[4] |
| 25 | 69 | 29 |
Platinum | |
| Nico Santos[5] |
| 3 | 5 | 2 | ||
| Ride |
| 2 | 42 | 37 | ||
thumb|upright|Santos in 2016
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER | AUT | [6] | [7] | [8] | [9] | [10] | [11] | [12] | SWI | |||||||||||||||
| "Symphony" | 2016 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | rowspan="2" | |||||||||||
| "Goodbye to Love" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "Rooftop" | 5 | 2 | — | — | 1 | — | 3 | — | 4 | 5 | — |
3× Gold Platinum[13]
| Streets of Gold | |||||||||||
| "Safe" | 2018 | 24 | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 36 | — |
| |||||||||||
| "Oh Hello" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| ||||||||||||
| "Unforgettable" | 2019 | 66 | 65 | — | — | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| |||||||||||
| "Better" | 15 | 17 | — | — | 19 | — | — | — | 53 | 89 | — |
| Nico Santos | |||||||||||
| "Play with Fire" | 54 | 59 | — | — | 11 | — | — | — | — | 66 | — |
| ||||||||||||
| "Like I Love You" | 2020 | 24 | 32 | — | — | 68 | — | — | — | 41 | 54 | — |
| |||||||||||
| "Running Back to You" | 80 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | rowspan="10" | ||||||||||||
| "Leere Hände" | 2021 | 2 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | — | ||||||||||||
| "End of Summer" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||
| "Would I Lie to You" | 31 | — | — | — | 10 | — | — | — | 16 | — | — | |||||||||||||
| "In Your Arms (For an Angel)" [15] | 2022 | 36 | — | 7 | 10 | — | 12 | — | 9 | 9 | 61 | 31 |
| |||||||||||
| "Candela" | ― | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||
| "Weekend Lover" | — | — | — | 30 | 4 | — | — | — | 16 | — | — | |||||||||||||
| "All You Need Is Love" (with Nicky Romero and Jonas Blue)[16] | 2023 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "Number 1" | — | — | — | — | 2 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | |||||||||||||
| "Where You Are" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 74 | — | — | |||||||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER | [17] | AUT | [18] | SWI | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Won't Let You Fall" | 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | rowspan="5" | ||||||||||||||||
| "Holding On" | 2015 | — | — | — | — | 42 | |||||||||||||||||
| "Home" | 12 | 11 | 10 | 2 | — |
| |||||||||||||||||
| "Fastlane" | 2020 | 9 | — | 17 | — | 29 | |||||||||||||||||
| "This City" (Remix) | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Die Sonne" | 2023 | 1 | — | — | — | — | Die Hoffnung klaut mir niemand | ||||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title | Year | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| "Wir sind groß" | 2016 | Mark Forster |
| "Roli" | Shindy | |
| "Achterbahn" | 2017 | Helene Fischer |
| "Papa" | Bushido | |
| "So schön kaputt" | SDP | |
| "Lost In You" | Lena | |
| "If I Wasn't Your Daughter" | ||
| "Hellrot" | Prinz Pi, Bosse | |
| "Tausend Tattoos" | 2018 | Sido |
| "Mañana" | 2021 | Álvaro Soler, Cali y El Dandee |
| "Vamos a Marte" | Helene Fischer, Luis Fonsi |
| Radio Galaxy Awards | Best Newcomer | Himself | |||
| Audi Generation Awards | Music | ||||
| 1LIVE Krone Awards | Best Newcomer | ||||
| Best Single | "Safe" | ||||
| "Better" | |||||
| Best Male Artist | Himself | ||||
| Bravo Otto Awards | Musician National | ||||
| Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards | Favourite Singer (for DACH) | ||||
| Favourite Song (for DACH) | "Better" | ||||
| 1LIVE Krone Awards | Best Male Artist | Himself | |||
| MTV Europe Music Awards | Best German Act | ||||
| Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards | Favourite Singer (for DACH) | ||||
| Favourite Team (for DACH) | The Voice of Germany | ||||
| Bravo Otto Awards | Musician National | Himself | |||
| 1LIVE Krone Awards | Best Single | "Would I Lie to You" |
Web site: hitparade.ch Santos discography.