At the age of ten, she run away from school to take part in a saeta contest which she won.

At the age of twelve, she was awarded with the first prize for buleria, serrana and petenera singing.

At the age of fifteen, she was already known among the flamenco peñas and in the flamenco world of Jerez. She is one of the few singers awarded with these three national prizes.
That’s why Philips wanted to record her a record and launch her to the show world, which her father objected and forced her to leave that world and types of contests.

Despite this, flamenco is the school of life and Maria José got a distinction in it. In order to do so, she did work hard- with her voice, will and black eyes.

To SPANISH SINGING ...

After becoming of full age, 1981 was a year that marked her career. She won the TVE contest called Gente Joven, and thanks to this, she started to sing copla. Spanish singing was re-starting again after a long deserted period when it had been unfairly forgotten. María José Santiago renovated the genre all those years. She kept the flame alive and she did so with the know-how and accuracy of years of experience in the world of flamenco.
After winning this contest, she recorded a record where she included some Christmas carols like "Tu carita divina", which made her so popular, just like she made the song so popular too. It is currently one of the Christmas carols preferred by Christmas choirs.

She started her tours and recorded records. Little by little, María José Santiago enjoyed the privileged situation of a young woman full of artistic maturity. An enviable situation that people only enjoy after many years of work and being still young.

All the requirements of a living legend of Spanish traditional singing are met-

Family of artists and humble origins, flamenco is her school, awards, and acknowledgement beyond Spanish frontiers, theatre companies want her and Carmelo Millan is her faithful manager.

AND ALSO IN EUROPE AND AMERICA

Spain joins the ECC in 1986 and it’s time for celebrations. María José Santiago is awarded with the prize to the best female voice given by the Greek Ministry of Culture then, Melina Mercury. It is a time of happiness which María José shares in the Sicilian town of Messina with stars like Iva Zanicchi, Charles Aznavour and Cliff Richard.

Latin America also recognized her talent soon, particularly Mexico. In Italy, Maria José Santiago becomes a real synonym of Spanish singing and her shows and TV performances are more and more frequent. Finally, Miami and the Spanish-speaking world of the USA praise her talent. In 1990 she organised a charity gala against cancer, and became then one of the most popular Spanish singers in the USA Latin circles.

After four LP’s since 1985, "Teatro" is one of her best works and it marks her talent. The recording took place in Luis Cobos studios and Pablo Herrero produced it.

In 1994 she released her sixth work produced by Manolo Díaz Pallarez and titled "Candela". She was in one of the ranks of the top hits. For the first time in her record career, in 1995 María José launched a sevillana LP titled "... Por Sevillanas" including a song dedicated to HM Elena de Borbón, on the occasion of her wedding. She also sang a sevillana with Manuel Díaz "El Cordobés". For the first time, Marta José Santiago mixed flamenco and Cuban son with themes by Camarón mixing salsa and son with flamenco singing from Jerez, her roots.

The Recording of this record titled "Son Flamenco" was totally made in Havana (Cuba) at the end of 1996 and she ended her recording halfway through 1997, in the Ojala studios of Silvio Rodríguez, arrangements being made by great Cuban musician and singer Adalberto Alvarez, and the production directed by Ricardo Pachón. Mixing son and flamenco is the union of two cultures. In 1999, María José worked in TV as a presenter and recorded twelve music programs titled ‘Ria Pita" in the Andalusian TV channel Canal Sur TV, her co-presenter companion being Enrique Montoya "Candela".

On October 15, María José was the artist – together with Carmen Sevilla- presenting the Opening of the Para Olympic Games, in Seville stadium.

María José launched another new record titled ¡YO!, produced by Tate Montoya, which was presented in the media on December 15, 1999, at the Sociedad General de Autores of Madrid. The Duchess of Alba sponsored the act.

¡YO! Is a top production that took 18 months of work in which the songs, arrangements (Jesús Lavilla, David Montoya and José A. Rodríguez), the participation of some of the best local musicians and of course, Maria Jose’s voice, make up boleros, cumbias, rumbas and tangos flamencos.
The Casa de Andalucía in Teruel appointed María José as the Andalusian of the year 1999 for her artistic career; popular Andalusian people like José Antonio Campuzano, Rafael Alberti, among others were awarded with this prize in previous years.

Jerez de la Frontera town hall, together with the association of Reyes Magos, appointed María José as a ‘Wise Man’ for the year 2000 parade. For the first time ever, María José had two nominations for the 4th edition of the Music Awards- as the best singer of Spanish singing and her new record YO, for the best album of the year. One year later, María José presented TV program in the Andalusian public channel Canal Sur "Ria Pitá'. That year it was the 11^{th edition and she recorded 9 programs with the performance of the best singers at the time. At the beginning of 2001, María José started her tour around several Latin American countries, which she started after her tour around Spain and ended with three concerts in Quito (Ecuador) in 2.002. It was then that she performed h new show accompanied by seven musicians, the flam guitar playing and two chorus girls, with a great staging of sound and lighting.}

On the other hand, she also released her new record called "A MI MANERA", produced by Tate Montoya. This new record was recorded in Lisbon and Seville and had the special collaboration of Portuguese singer Marco Paulo and Diego Carrasco, and guitar players Manolo Franco, Enrique de Melchor, Fernando Moreno, José Antonio Rodríguez and Moraíto Chico. Maria José was appointed ‘Wise Man’, a historical event as it was the first time a woman performed this role.

Her last record mixed flamenco and Christmas carols. It is titled "De Jerez a Belén" and produced by Diego Magallanes, and it was presented in Seville on December 4, 2003 at Antique Teatro night club, with great expectation and sponsored by group VEBECA S.A., led by Juan José Vega.
Once the 2003 gala season ended, the exclusivity agreement with Carmelo Millan expired and she created her own Hiring Office and Record company called VESAN MÚSIC S. L., with which she produced and promoted her last hit "De Jerez a Belén". With it, she has beaten all her sale records throughout her career.