Rolando Villazón, widely regarded as one of the finest lyric tenors of his generation, was born in Mexico City and began studying music professionally at the age of 11 at the Academy of Fine Arts. At 18, he started taking vocal lessons and two years later entered the National Conservatory in Mexico City. While still a student, he frequently won international competitions, and in 1998 he joined the young artist program of San Francisco Opera, where he performed his first major role – Alfredo in Verdi's "La Traviata". In 1999, the young singer won second place at Plácido Domingo's Operalia competition (along with the Audience Prize and first prize for zarzuela performance), immediately attracting attention from critics and audiences alike. That same year, Villazón made his Italian debut at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, performing the title tenor role of des Grieux in Massenet's "Manon", followed by invitations to major European opera houses – Hamburg and Berlin State Operas, the Opéra Bastille in Paris, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Trieste Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, as well as Los Angeles Opera, New York City Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and others.

From 2005 to 2010, the singer regularly appeared on the world's finest opera stages, performing a variety of leading lyric roles; he achieved particular success as Alfredo in "La Traviata" at the Salzburg Festival, where he sang alongside Anna Netrebko in Willy Decker's acclaimed production.

In May 2009, Villazón announced that he would undergo vocal cord surgery. After a successful recovery, he returned to the stage in 2010 as Nemorino ("L'Elisir d'Amore") at the Vienna State Opera. That year, he added many Mozart roles to his repertoire: Don Ottavio ("Don Giovanni"), Alessandro ("Il Re Pastore"), and Sulla ("Lucio Silla"). In 2014, he released a solo album of Mozart concert arias.

In 2011, Villazón made his directorial debut, staging Massenet's "Werther" at the Lyon Opera. He later directed productions such as "L'Elisir d'Amore" in Baden-Baden and Leipzig, "Viva la Mamma" at the Vienna Volksoper, "La Rondine" and "Die Fledermaus" at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, "La Traviata" in Baden-Baden, "La Sonnambula" at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and "The Barber of Seville" at the Salzburg Festival.

The singer regularly enriches his repertoire with new roles, including such lesser-known works as Martinů's "Julietta, or The Key to Dreams", Monteverdi's "Orfeo" and "Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria", and Debussy's "Pelléas et Mélisande". In 2022, Villazón made a highly successful debut in Wagnerian repertoire, singing the role of Loge in "Das Rheingold" at the Berlin State Opera.

Since 2018, he has been artistic director of Mozart Week and the International Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg.

He lives with his family in the suburbs of Paris and holds French citizenship.