Ednita Nazario
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Ednita Nazario (born April 11, 1955 in Ponce, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican singer that has achieved great success both in the island and abroad. She has been in the music business from a very young age, and has released over twenty albums through her career. For her stamina through the years, and the sensuality of her shows, she is considered by many as a "Latin Diva".
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Childhood Surprise
Ednita was born April 11, 1955 in Ponce, Puerto Rico to Domingo and Gudy Nazario. She has two older brothers (Tito and Alberto) and a younger brother (Frank). Ever since she was a baby, Ednita showed inclinations to music. A family anecdote tells that when she was two, she went shopping with her mother but scurried off her in the market. She was found singing on top of boxes to an enthusiastic crowd of shoppers laughing and clapping until her mother took her.
Some years later, when she was 6, she went to a baseball game in Ponce with her two brothers. While playing with her brother's glove, the batter hit the ball right towards her. Cowering behind the glove, the ball fell right in the middle of it. The crowd went wild, including Alfred D. Herger, one of Puerto Rico’s top recording producers, who was seated right next to the Nazario brothers. When he asked her if she wanted to be a baseball player, she replied "No, I'm going to be a singer." Herger quickly asked her to sing something for him, to which she replied with an impressive rendition of a local salsa hit that left both the producer and the crowd astonished. Everyone in the crowd applauded to her talent.
Two months later, Herger visited the Nazario household with a recording contract, which the family, reluctantly at first, signed. At 7, Ednita recorded her first song: a Spanish version of "My Boy Lollipop".
[edit] Teen Success
After some presentations, Ednita started along with Jose Manuel Zambrana and Frankie Sabath in a band created by Tony Morales called The Kids From Ponce. The group played at numerous major hotel chains and television networks. The group achieved local success and were requested at lots of TV shows. However, the group broke up after some time and the three of them became soloist. Ednita, now 17, was offered to star in her own prime-time TV variety show. During this time she also won "Miss Puerto Rico Teenage".
In 1973 she finally released her first album called Al Fin...Ednita. The album spawned one#1 Hit, and also brought her awards as "New Artist of the Year". With her TV show, Ednita became Puerto Rico's hottest teen idol. The show was also syndicated to other Latin-American countries. Among the international stars that she hosted were: Liza Minnelli, Tommy Dorsey, Charles Aznavour, Morey Amsterdam and Oscar-winning Puerto Rican actor José Ferrer. Ferrer was so charmed by Ednita's presence that he designed a nightclub act for both of them.
Ferrer was surprised at the reception of Ednita's show. They were booked at several hotels in the Caribbean, and even Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, and New York, they were even booked to sing at the Hyat Hotel in Canada. At this time, she was even requested by Monaco's Royal Family to perform at the famous casino of Monte Carlo three times, and she wasn't even 17 years old at the time.
[edit] Rising Star
In the late 70s, Ednita participated in the OTI Festival as a singer with the song "Cadenas de Fuego", and as a songwriter with the song "Contigo, Mujer" (co-written with her then husband, Laureano Brizuela). The latter, sung by Rafael José, won the top prize of the festival. She also gained notoriety with the theme song of successful soap opera Coralito.
During this time and the 80s, Ednita signed subsequent record deals, first with local label Borinquen, then Ariola, and finally Padosa. During this time, she matured her style to one more pop/rock oriented. She also cemented her place as a touring force in Latin-America.
[edit] Ednita in the 90s
In 1991, Ednita released one of her most acclaimed albums to date, titled Fuerza De Gravedad. Perhaps helped by her recent marriage and motherhood, the album showed more focused lyrics and a more mature singer. The album included a duo with Air Supply singer, Russell Hitchcock. Her following album included collaborations by Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti and her own husband, fellow singer and songwriter Luis Angel.
After a shocking breakup from her husband, Ednita refocused in her career and released Metamorfosis in 1992, following it with presentations in some of the most prestigious halls of the island. In 1993, she sold out a concert at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum which was released as an album the following year. After another album, she starred an impressive run of 13 shows at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center of San Juan bitting Yolandita Monge's record of 12 consecutive shows. After that, she went on a tour through Latin-America, where her last album had hit gold.
In 1996, she released Espíritu Libre, which went platinum shortly after being released. On the heels of it, she sold out the Hiram Bithorn Stadium on a show that was transmitted via Internet.
In 1998 she was cast for the lead role in Paul Simon's short-lived Broadway musical, The Capeman, sharing the stage with fellow latin stars like Rubén Blades and Marc Anthony. Despite its critical failure, the musical managed to put the star on another level internationally.
[edit] Back for the New Millennium
In 1999, Ednita resurged in music, with Corazón. The album, which included collaborations of Robi Draco Rosa, went platinum in just a week. The album also got her several awards and two Billboard nominations. In 2001, after signing a new record deal with Sony Music, she released Sin Límite, which featured fellow singer and songwriter Tommy Torres as producer.
In 2002 she fulfilled one of her dreams by transforming the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center into a recording studio and inviting 300 friends to share with her two nights of an acoustic concert. The concert was released in two separate albums: Acústico I & II. The presentation included a duo with Beto Cuevas, lead singer of the Latin-American band La Ley.
Next year, with Tommy Torres as producer again, Ednita released Por Tí. The album featured collaborations from international superstar Ricky Martin and Luis Fonsi. The supporting concert broke all attendance records in Puerto Rico. Not to be held off, she followed it with Apasionada (again produced by Torres). This one included collaborations from composer Claudia Brandt, Sin Bandera's Noel Schajris, and Luis Fonsi again.
[edit] Personal life
Ednita has been married three times. First to Laureano Brizuela during the late 70s to the early 80s. In 1987 she married to Luis Angel with whom she had her first and only child, Carolina. They divorced in the early 90s, but remain close friends and have collaborated with each others careers repeatedly. In the late 90s she married Luis Bonet, who is not involved in show business, and (as of 2006) have remained married.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Videography
- 1994 "Live"
- 2003 "Viva La Diva"
- 2004 "Acústico"
- 2006 "Apasionada Live"
[edit] Trivia
- Puerto Rican gossip magazines like Vea, Teve Guía, Artistas and others always talked about a supposed rivalry between her and another teenaged Puerto Rican international superstar of the era, Yolandita Monge.
- Ednita has been in many international publications. Bolivia's airline, Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (LAB), published a full-length article about her and her career on their inflight magazine.
