Veronica (singer)

Veronica (born Veronica Vazquez July 24, 1974 in the Bronx, New York) is a dance music singer and theatrical actress. Along with singers Ultra Nate, Deborah Cox, she is considered to be one of the divas of the 1990s club music scene. She also is one of the few Latinas to become a successful artist in the English-language dance music genre.

Biography

Born in the New York City borough of the Bronx, her parents who were originally from Puerto Rico encouraged her to pursue her artistic inclinations.^[1] Veronica began her career in 1995 when she was 21 years old with the release of her debut album V...As in Veronica which was released on October 24, 1995.^[2] The album was a mixture of R&B and Hip hop. The album featured production from Rodney Jerkins and Dallas Austin. On October 28, 1997, when Veronica was 23 years old she released her second album Rise. This album was again R&B and Hip Hop influenced. She released two singles/videos off of this album. The first single was No One But You and it featured Craig Mack. The second single and album title track Rise was released and that featured guest vocals by Big Pun & Cuban Link. As one of the first artists to signed to Jellybean Recordings, a label founded by music producer Jellybean Benitez, Veronica had a string of hits on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, including three reached the top ten. Let Me Go... Release Me landed the number one spot in 1998, and soon afterwards it was followed by the club anthem Someone To Hold (which peaked at the number two slot) which was remixed by producer Johnny Vicious and played heavily in the club circuit scene. The song still remains a classic among clubgoers today and it was featured on the soundtrack to the independent film Trick released in 1999 and starred Christian Campbell and Tori Spelling. She scored a second number one dance hit in 2000 with her cover of Evelyn "Champagne" King's classic R&B song I'm In Love, which was rerecorded for a club setting. She remains a very popular singer to this very day among gay audiences and especially in the club circuit scene.

She moved away from New York and the club music scene for a few years. During these years, she pursued her love for musical theater and was given the opportunity to portray slain Tejano singer Selena in a traveling production about her life and times. The production, titled Selena Forever traveled to numerous cities with a large Mexican-American population for over a year. Shortly after the successful run of the production, she decided to return to New York and start a family and return to her love of music. In 2004, Veronica recorded a song with rapper Triple Seis titled "Krazy". The song was featured on Triple Seis' debut album Time'll Tell. After a brief hiatus, Veronica returned in 2006, with music producer Tim Rex on her first dance single in over five years, Relentless...Just a Game. She can be seen in the 2007 film "The Singer" where she plays Héctor Lavoe's mother in his younger years.

Activism

She presently resides in New York City with her husband and their son, C.J. After her son was diagnosed with autism, Veronica has become a tireless advocate for further research and has led several efforts, including charitable walks, to raise research funds and "awareness" for the disorder.

See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

References

External links

• Veronica Vazquez at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Selena Forever website
• Veronica on MySpace
• Video of Veronica performing live at Fly Nightclub in Toronto, Canada