Nico Wellenbrink (born 7 January 1993), better 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 (2019–2021, 2025–present). Santos was the winning coach on the fifteenth season when his team member Anne Mosters won the season.
Discography Studio albums Title Details Peak chart positions Certifications Streets of Gold Released: 12 October 2018 Label: Universal Music Group Formats: Digital download, streaming 25 69 29: Platinum Nico Santos Released: 8 May 2020 Label: Universal Music Group Formats: Digital download, streaming 3 5 2 Ride Released: 26 May 2023 Label: Universal Music Group Formats: Digital download, streaming 2 42 37
Singles
As lead artist Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album GER AUT For peak positions in Croatia: For "In Your Arms (For an Angel)": For "Weekend Lover": For peak positions in the Czech Republic: For "Rooftop": Note: The song is ranked number 72 that week. For "Unforgettable": Note: Select 201927. For "Better": Note: Select 202008. For "Play with Fire": Note: Select 202034. For "Like I Love You": Note: Select 202029. For "Would I Lie to You": Note: Select 202208. For "Weekend Lover": Note: Select 202243. For "Number 1": For "Human Being": Note: Select song. SWI "Symphony" 2016 — — — — — — — — — — rowspan="2" "Goodbye to Love"2017 — — — — — — — — — —"Rooftop" 5 2 — 1 — 3 — 4 5 —: 3× Gold : Platinum IFPI SWI: 5× Platinum Streets of Gold "Safe"2018 24 23 — — — — — — 36 —BVMI: Gold IFPI AUT: Gold IFPI SWI: 2× Platinum "Oh Hello" — — — — — — — — — —IFPI SWI: Gold "Unforgettable" 2019 66 65 — 7 — — — — — —BVMI: Gold IFPI SWI: Gold "Better" 15 17 — 19 — — — 53 89 —BVMI: Platinum IFPI AUT: Gold Nico Santos "Play with Fire" 54 59 — 11 — — — — 66 —BVMI: Gold IFPI SWI: Gold "Like I Love You" 2020 24 32 — 68 — — — 41 54 —BVMI: Gold IFPI AUT: Platinum "Running Back to You" 80 — — — — — — — — — rowspan="17" "Leere Hände"2021 2 5 — — — — — — 5 — "End of Summer" — — — — — — — — — — "Would I Lie to You" 31 — — 10 — — — 16 — — "In Your Arms (For an Angel)"2022 36 — 10 — 12 — 9 9 61 31IFPI AUT: Gold "Candela" ― — — — — — — — — — "Weekend Lover" — — 30 4 — — — 16 — — "All You Need Is Love"(with Nicky Romero and Jonas Blue)2023 — — — — — — — — — — "Number 1" — — — 2 — — — 1 — — "Where You Are" — — — — — — — 74 — — "Himmel leer"2024 26 — — — — — — — 81 — "Human Being" — — — 5 — — — 65 — — "Geschlossene Augen" 4 10 — — — — — — 12 — "Ray of Light" — — — 86 — — — 23 — — "Das Leben ruft"2025 24 — — — — — — — — — "Party Girls Don’t Cry" 68 — — — — — — — — — "Body" — — — 32 — — — 1 — — "Why Don't You Stay"2026 — — — — — — — 33 — — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released.
As featured artist Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album GER AUT SWI "Won't Let You Fall" 2014 — — — — — rowspan="5" "Holding On"2015 — — — — 42 "Home" 12 11 10 2 — BVMI: Platinum "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.
Other charted songs Title Year Peak chart positions Album GER "Purple Rain" 2019 50 Berlin lebt 2
Songwriting and production credits 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"2018Sido "Mañana"2021Álvaro Soler, Cali y El Dandee "Vamos a Marte"Helene Fischer, Luis Fonsi
Awards and nominations
+YearAwardNominationWorkResultRef.Radio Galaxy AwardsBest NewcomerHimself Audi Generation AwardsMusic 1LIVE Krone AwardsBest Newcomer Best Single"Safe" "Better" Best Male ArtistHimself Bravo Otto AwardsMusician National Nickelodeon Kids' Choice AwardsFavourite Singer (for DACH) Favourite Song (for DACH)"Better" 1LIVE Krone AwardsBest Male ArtistHimself MTV Europe Music AwardsBest German Act Nickelodeon Kids' Choice AwardsFavourite Singer (for DACH) Favourite Team (for DACH)The Voice of Germany Bravo Otto AwardsMusician NationalHimself 1LIVE Krone AwardsBest Single"Would I Lie to You"
Notes
References
External links Official website