Who Is Alejandro Cabello? Inside Camila Cabello’s Family Story

If you’ve ever watched Camila Cabello’s 2020 Grammys performance of “First Man,” you already know the answer to one big question: this is a woman who adores her dad. She walked off that stage, sat down next to him in the front row, and sang the rest of the song directly into his eyes while he cried. Millions of viewers cried right along with him. And in the days that followed, one search term spiked across the internet: who, exactly, is Camila Cabello’s father?

His name is Alejandro Cabello, and while he’s not a public figure by trade, his story is quietly one of the more compelling immigrant narratives connected to modern pop music. He’s a man who swam across a body of water separating him from his family, spent a year and a half waiting on a visa, washed cars for a living in Miami, and eventually built a construction business from the ground up – all while raising the woman who would go on to sell out arenas and top the Billboard Hot 100.

This article pulls together everything that’s publicly known about Alejandro Cabello: where he came from, how the Cabello family made it to the United States, what he does for work today, and why Camila has said, more than once, that he’s the reason she is who she is. Along the way, we’ll also introduce the rest of Camila’s immediate family, answer the most common questions people search for about her father, and give you the full picture of the family that shaped one of pop music’s most recognizable voices.

Quick Answer: Who Is Camila Cabello’s Father?

Camila Cabello’s father is Alejandro Cabello, a Mexican-born immigrant who met and married Camila’s Cuban mother, Sinuhe Estrabao. He spent years working manual labor jobs – most notably washing cars in Miami – before co-founding a construction company with his wife. He’s known publicly for the emotional bond he shares with Camila, immortalized in her 2019 song “First Man,” which she performed live at the 2020 Grammy Awards while he watched from the front row in tears.

That’s the short version. Now let’s dig into the full story.

Who Is Alejandro Cabello? Getting to Know Camila’s Dad

Alejandro Cabello has spent most of his adult life outside the spotlight, even as his daughter’s career has made her one of the most photographed musicians in the world. He isn’t on a record label roster, he doesn’t do celebrity interviews, and he’s never released a memoir. What we know about him comes largely from Camila herself – through her lyrics, her interviews, and the handful of red-carpet and award-show appearances where he’s stood beside her.

Early Life in Mexico

Alejandro was born in Mexico. Details about his exact hometown, birth year, and upbringing haven’t been made public, which is fairly typical for the parents of celebrities who choose to keep a low profile. What is known is that he grew up in Mexico before eventually relocating to Cuba, where he would go on to meet the woman who became his wife and start a family.

That cross-border path – Mexico to Cuba, and eventually Cuba to the United States – became the defining shape of the entire Cabello family’s story, and it’s one that Camila has referenced repeatedly in interviews about her upbringing and her music.

How He Met Camila’s Mother

Alejandro married Sinuhe Estrabao, a Cuban woman who would later become an architect and general contractor. The couple split their early years together between Mexico and Cuba before eventually deciding, like so many families in the region, to pursue a better life in the United States. Camila Cabello was born on March 3, 1997, in Cojímar, a small fishing town just outside Havana, Cuba – which means her father was very much present, and Cuban-based, in the years leading up to her birth.

The Cabello Family’s Journey From Cuba to the United States

This is, without question, the most-discussed chapter of Alejandro Cabello’s life, and it’s the part of the story that gives “First Man” its emotional weight.

Camila and Her Mother Move First

When Camila was around five or six years old, she and her mother left Cuba for the United States. The journey wasn’t simple or glamorous. According to family accounts, they traveled from Cuba to Mexico first, then crossed into the U.S. by bus, eventually settling near family in Miami. Sinuhe arrived with very little money and had to rebuild from scratch, taking a job at a shoe store to support herself and her young daughter while they waited for the rest of the family to be able to join them.

Alejandro’s 18-Month Wait — and the Swim That Became Family Legend

Alejandro couldn’t leave with them. Because of visa restrictions, he was separated from his wife and daughter for roughly a year and a half. During that stretch, one story has become something of a piece of Cabello family folklore: unable to get the paperwork he needed to travel freely, Alejandro reportedly swam from Mexico to reach Florida so he could see his family, a detail that speaks to just how determined he was to stay connected to them during the separation.

Eventually, Alejandro secured his visa and reunited with Sinuhe and Camila in Florida. It’s a story of prolonged separation, uncertainty, and reunion that mirrors what countless immigrant families in South Florida have experienced – and it’s exactly the kind of hard-won devotion Camila later put into song.

If you’re wondering why “First Man” hits so hard, this is why: it isn’t a vague tribute to fatherhood in general. It’s rooted in a specific, real period where a little girl grew up missing her dad, followed by years of him working relentlessly once they were finally back together.

Life in Miami: From Washing Cars to Building a Business

Once reunited in Florida, the Cabello family had to start over financially, and Alejandro’s early jobs reflected that reality.

Washing Cars in Miami

For a period after arriving in the U.S., Alejandro Cabello worked washing cars in Miami. It wasn’t glamorous work, but it was steady, and it gave the family a foothold while they figured out their next steps. Camila has spoken about her parents’ work ethic during this era as foundational to her own values – the idea that you show up, you do the work in front of you, and you build from there.

Soka Construction LLC

Over time, Alejandro and Sinuhe combined their skills – his hands-on labor experience and her background in architecture and general contracting – into a shared business. In October 2010, the couple founded Soka Construction LLC, a construction company based in Florida. Years later, in 2023, they reportedly expanded their business interests further by founding Soka Duo Property Investment LLC, moving into property investment alongside their original construction work.

This trajectory – from car-washing to co-owning a construction and property investment business – is a meaningful throughline in Camila’s own public comments about her family. It’s a classic immigrant success story, and it’s one she’s referenced as a source of pride and inspiration, especially since it happened while she was simultaneously building her own music career.

What does Camila Cabello’s father do for a living? Alejandro Cabello co-owns a Florida-based construction company, Soka Construction LLC, which he founded with his wife Sinuhe in 2010. He previously worked washing cars in Miami after immigrating to the United States.

The Father-Daughter Bond: “First Man” and the 2020 Grammys

No conversation about Camila Cabello’s father is complete without talking about “First Man,” the song that introduced Alejandro Cabello to millions of people who’d never have otherwise known his name.

The Story Behind the Song

“First Man” appears on Camila’s 2019 sophomore album, Romance. She’s said it was the very first song she wrote for that album, and that the writing session turned emotional almost immediately – she went into the studio in Nashville planning to write about something else entirely, started talking about her dad, and ended up in tears. She’s called it the song she’s proudest of writing in her entire career.

The lyrics reassure her father that no matter who else comes in and out of her life romantically, he will always hold the title of the first man who ever truly loved her unconditionally. It also imagines a future wedding day, with Camila picturing her father walking her down the aisle – a moment that hadn’t happened yet but that she was clearly already thinking about years in advance.

A Tearful Grammy Performance

Camila debuted “First Man” as a live performance at the 2020 Grammy Awards. Her father was her date for the night, seated front row, having already shared an emotional embrace with her on the red carpet earlier that evening. As she sang, home videos of Camila as a baby and young child played behind her – footage of the exact childhood shaped by his years of hard work and their years of separation.

Partway through the performance, Camila left the stage entirely, walked into the audience, and sang the final stretch of the song directly to her father. He broke down. So did much of the audience, including fellow performer Gwen Stefani. The moment quickly became one of the most talked-about Grammy performances of the night, not because of vocal runs or stage production, but because of how visibly real it was.

The Father’s Day Music Video

A few months after the Grammys, on Father’s Day 2020, Camila released an official music video for “First Man.” Rather than a polished, cinematic concept, it’s built almost entirely from home movie footage of Camila and Alejandro from her infancy through childhood, interspersed with new footage of her watching those old clips. In the caption accompanying the release, Camila thanked her father for loving her unconditionally and for showing her what real love and support look like – a message that read less like a celebrity press release and more like a genuinely personal note.

She’s continued to reference the song’s meaning in interviews and even live moments in the years since, including once surprising a bride at her own wedding by offering to perform “First Man” live for her father-daughter dance – a full-circle moment given that the song itself imagines exactly that kind of wedding scene.

Meet the Rest of Camila Cabello’s Family

Alejandro isn’t the only family member who’s shaped Camila’s story. Understanding her father’s role makes more sense alongside the rest of her immediate family.

Sinuhe Estrabao, Camila’s Mother

Camila’s mother, Sinuhe Estrabao, is a trained architect and general contractor. Like Alejandro, she immigrated from Cuba, arriving in the U.S. with young Camila while Alejandro waited for his visa. Sinuhe’s professional background in architecture and contracting eventually merged with Alejandro’s construction experience to form the family’s business, Soka Construction LLC. Camila has described her mother as fiercely hardworking and protective, and Sinuhe remains a regular presence at Camila’s public events.

Sofia Cabello, Camila’s Younger Sister

Camila has one sibling, a younger sister named Sofia Cabello. Sofia has occasionally appeared alongside Camila at events and on social media, and the sisters are known to be close. Unlike Camila, Sofia has largely stayed out of the entertainment industry, though she’s occasionally been photographed supporting her sister at premieres, tours, and family gatherings.

A Tight-Knit, Immigrant-Rooted Household

What comes through clearly in nearly every account of the Cabello family is closeness. Camila has repeatedly described her parents as her biggest supporters, crediting their sacrifices – the years of separation, the visa wait, the low-wage jobs taken just to get a foothold – as the backbone of her own drive and gratitude. It’s a household built on the classic immigrant story: leave everything familiar behind, endure hardship in the short term, and build something lasting for the next generation.

How Camila Cabello’s Upbringing Shaped Her Music and Values

It’s worth zooming out here, because Alejandro Cabello’s influence on his daughter isn’t limited to one song. Camila has spoken in numerous interviews about how her family’s immigration story shapes the way she sees her own success. She’s talked about feeling a responsibility to make her parents’ sacrifices “worth it,” and about carrying a strong sense of gratitude that shows up in how she treats her team, her fans, and her own work ethic.

This immigrant-family throughline also shows up in songs beyond “First Man.” Tracks like “Havana,” which reference her Cuban roots, and various interview comments about growing up bilingual and bicultural, all trace back to the same origin story: a father who swam across borders (literally, by some accounts) and a mother who took whatever job she could find, so their daughters could have more options than they did.

For fans trying to understand why Camila’s music often feels so personal and specific rather than generic pop-song sentiment, her father’s story is a big part of the answer. The vulnerability she’s known for isn’t a marketing strategy – it’s consistent with a family that has always been fairly open, at least with each other, about what they’ve been through.

A Timeline of Alejandro Cabello’s Life With the Family

Because so much of this story unfolds across different countries and different decades, it helps to lay it out in order. Here’s a simplified timeline pulling together what’s publicly known about Alejandro Cabello’s journey alongside his family:

• Early years: Alejandro is born in Mexico and raised there before eventually relocating to Cuba.
• Marriage: He meets and marries Sinuhe Estrabao, and the couple begins splitting time between Mexico and Cuba.
• March 1997: Camila Cabello is born in Cojímar, a coastal town near Havana, Cuba.
• Early 2000s: Sinuhe and a young Camila leave Cuba for the United States, eventually settling near family in Miami, Florida. Alejandro is unable to join them right away due to visa restrictions.
• The separation: For about a year and a half, Alejandro remains apart from his wife and daughter while working through the immigration process. Family accounts describe him going to significant lengths just to see them during this stretch.
• Reunion in Florida: Alejandro finally receives his visa and reunites with Sinuhe and Camila in Miami, where the family begins rebuilding together.
• Early Miami years: Alejandro works washing cars while Sinuhe takes a job at a shoe store, and the family slowly stabilizes financially.
• October 2010: Alejandro and Sinuhe found Soka Construction LLC, combining his hands-on labor background with her architecture and general contracting expertise.
• 2016–2019: Camila’s solo music career takes off, and her parents become recognizable fixtures at award shows, premieres, and public appearances supporting her.
• December 2019: Camila releases “First Man” as part of her album Romance, dedicating the track to her father.
• January 2020: Camila performs “First Man” live for the first time at the Grammy Awards, with Alejandro seated in the front row as her date for the evening.
• June 2020: Camila releases the official “First Man” music video on Father’s Day, built from home movie footage of her childhood with her dad.
• 2023: Alejandro and Sinuhe expand their business ventures, founding Soka Duo Property Investment LLC.

This timeline makes something clear: Alejandro Cabello’s story isn’t a single anecdote that happens to intersect with his daughter’s fame. It’s a decades-long arc of migration, separation, reunion, and steady rebuilding – one that was well underway long before Camila ever picked up a microphone.

Why Fans Keep Searching for Details About Camila’s Father

It’s worth pausing on why this particular topic generates so much interest. Camila Cabello has been a public figure since her Fifth Harmony days on The X Factor USA in 2012, and in the years since, fans have grown accustomed to knowing a lot about her – her tour schedules, her relationships, her album rollouts. But her parents have deliberately stayed several steps removed from that spotlight, which naturally makes people curious when they do appear.

A few things tend to drive the search traffic around “who is Camila Cabello’s father”:

1. The Grammy performance itself. Millions of people saw an emotional, unscripted-feeling moment between a celebrity and her dad and immediately wanted to know more about the man behind it.
2. The immigrant story resonates broadly. Alejandro’s path — separation, hard labor, eventual entrepreneurship — is a story that a huge number of American families, especially in South Florida, recognize as close to their own experience. It’s relatable in a way that most celebrity-parent stories aren’t.
3. Camila talks about him often. Unlike many artists who keep family entirely private, Camila regularly brings her father into interviews, social posts, and even live performances, which keeps the curiosity alive year after year.
4. The contrast with her public persona. Camila is known for glossy pop performances and high-profile relationships. Learning that her most emotionally significant song is about her dad, not a romantic partner, tends to surprise casual fans and pulls them deeper into wanting to know his story.

Alejandro Cabello’s Public Appearances Over the Years

While Alejandro doesn’t do press interviews or maintain a public-facing career of his own, he has shown up consistently at moments that matter to Camila. He’s been photographed with her at award shows, including the 2020 Grammys, where he served as her official date for the evening. He’s appeared in family photos shared on Camila’s social media around holidays, birthdays, and milestones. He’s also been spotted out in Miami doing ordinary father-daughter activities, such as leaving the gym together, which fans and outlets have picked up on simply because it shows a rare glimpse of their day-to-day relationship rather than a staged red-carpet moment.

None of these appearances suggest a man chasing the spotlight. If anything, they paint the picture of someone who shows up when it matters to his daughter and otherwise prefers to let his work – both the construction business and the parenting – speak for itself.

What Camila Cabello Has Said About Her Father’s Influence

Beyond “First Man,” Camila has referenced her father’s influence in broader conversations about her values and her approach to her career. She’s described her parents’ work ethic as something she tries to carry into her own life, pointing to the fact that they built a business from nothing while simultaneously supporting her music ambitions. She’s also spoken about the emotional weight of the years the family spent apart, describing how much it meant to finally have her father present for her childhood in the U.S. after the long wait for his visa.

This context matters for understanding Camila as an artist, not just as a daughter. Much of her songwriting – from her Fifth Harmony days through her solo albums — leans on themes of identity, roots, and family, and her father’s story is a recurring thread underneath all of it, even in songs that aren’t explicitly about him.

Common Questions About Camila Cabello’s Father

Is Camila Cabello’s father Mexican or Cuban?

Alejandro Cabello, Camila’s father, was born in Mexico. Camila’s mother, Sinuhe Estrabao, is Cuban. Camila herself was born in Cojímar, Cuba, making her family a blend of Mexican and Cuban heritage.

What is Camila Cabello’s father’s name?

Camila Cabello’s father’s full name is Alejandro Cabello.

What does Alejandro Cabello do for work?

Alejandro Cabello co-owns Soka Construction LLC, a Florida-based construction company he founded with his wife Sinuhe in October 2010. Earlier in his career, after immigrating to the United States, he worked washing cars in Miami.

Did Camila Cabello write a song about her father?

Yes. Camila Cabello wrote “First Man,” a track from her 2019 album Romance, as a tribute to her father, Alejandro. She performed it live for the first time at the 2020 Grammy Awards, walking off the stage to sing directly to him in the audience.

Does Camila Cabello have siblings?

Yes. Camila has one younger sister, Sofia Cabello, who occasionally appears alongside her at public events but has largely stayed out of the entertainment spotlight.

Was Camila Cabello’s father separated from the family when they moved to the U.S.?

Yes. Camila and her mother relocated to the United States when Camila was around five years old, while Alejandro remained behind due to visa restrictions. The family was separated for roughly a year and a half before he was able to join them in Florida.

Final Thoughts

Camila Cabello’s father, Alejandro Cabello, isn’t a celebrity in his own right, and he’s never tried to be one. But his story — immigrating from Mexico, enduring a lengthy separation from his wife and young daughter, taking on hard physical labor to rebuild a life in Miami, and eventually co-founding a construction business with his wife — is exactly the kind of quietly remarkable narrative that so often sits behind a famous person’s public success.

What makes it resonate with so many people isn’t just the facts of his biography. It’s the way his daughter has chosen to honor it publicly, most memorably through “First Man” and that unforgettable 2020 Grammys moment. In an industry that often rewards spectacle over sincerity, Camila’s tribute to her father stands out precisely because it’s grounded in something real: a specific man, a specific family, and years of sacrifice that shaped who she became.

If you enjoyed learning about the family behind one of pop music’s most compelling voices, stick around — we regularly cover the personal stories, family histories, and behind-the-scenes details of the artists you love. Explore more of our celebrity family features to keep learning about the people who’ve shaped your favorite stars.