Ednita Nazario

Ednita Nazario ranks among the most prolific, adored, chart-dominant, and lastingly prominent Latin pop performers of her era. Her vocal range and instinctive stage command set her apart from contemporaries from an early point. Nazario entered the recording studio at seven. Record producer Ernest Herger spotted her at a baseball game in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and secured a contract for both recordings and concerts that began with the single “Mi Amor Lollipop.” After appearing in local theaters, she assembled the Kids from Ponce, a group that quickly became a draw on the youth and teen circuit. Once she reached idol status among Puerto Rican youngsters, the ensemble disbanded, opening the door to a primetime variety show. Hosting that program made her a nationwide figure by fourteen. Across its four-year run she welcomed international headliners, building an audience throughout Latin American media. While the show aired she issued her debut album, Al Fin...Ednita!, which brought her the honors of Best New Artist and Best Album of the Year. Three years of further international exposure later she delivered her second album, Al Rojo Vivo. She married Argentine singer/songwriter Luis Angel Marquez in 1987; their daughter Carolina was born the next year and supplied the title for the forthcoming record Fuerza de Gravidad. That release signaled her move from youth favorite to an artist with adult appeal. After her divorce from Marquez she brought out Metamorphosis, then the landmark Pasiones. The album yielded eleven consecutive number one hits and ranked among the year’s major releases. Later years produced additional successes, including her 1998 Broadway debut in Paul Simon’s Songs from the Capeman. Between 1999’s Corazón and 2005’s Apasionada her catalog expanded steadily, each new title outperforming the one before. Her albums appeared consistently on Billboard lists, logging no fewer than ten entries in the Top 200 and three number ones on Top Latin Albums, including 2009’s Soy Mujer and 2012’s Desnuda, as well as ten in the Top Five. Her recordings also registered dozens of placements on airplay, streaming, download, and sales charts. In spring 2017 she released Una Vida, her twenty-seventh album, at the same time Penguin published her autobiography of the same name.