Marc Anthony - Biography
By Nick Castro
Marc Anthony is one of the most famous latin pop singers in recent years, He was born, Marco Antonio Muñiz, in 1968, in New York City, to parents of Puerto Rican descent. Anthony was named, by his musician father, after famed Mexican singer, Marco Antonio Muñiz, who is himself considered an honorary Puerto Rican by many fans of his music.
Anthony had begun singing at a very early age and by the time he was 20 he was performing house music in local clubs, still singing in English then. Soon he began a collaboration with a group call the Latin Rascals and record producer Little Louis Vega. Though they did not have any big hits, they did capture the attention of many in the music industry, including Tito Puente. Anthony also got work as a background singer for the group Menudo. Anthony released his first record, a single of a song called "Rebel", in 1988 on the Bluedog Records label. Anthony started to build up a reputation for himself in the burgeoning freestyle music scene. He collaborated with artists such as Sa-Fire and Ann-Marie, sometimes singing and other times writing songs for them. A String of regionally successful 12" singles began to cultivate a following for the young Anthony. Soon Anthony was gaining attention from artists outside of the dance and club music scenes. Tito Puente took notice of the young singer and invited Anthony to open for him at the prestigious Madison Square Gardens. This gig would serve as a launching pad for the rising young star. Soon Anthony would come to full fruition and adapt his musical style to an audience outside of the club realm.
Anthony's main style, of pop music, has a salsa tinge to it, but Anthony mostly dwells in the realms of powerful ballads and well produced vocal records. In 1993 Anthony, at the request of his manager, began to sing most of his material in Spanish. He recorded a salsa version of Juan gabriel's song "Hasta Que Te Conoci", for his debut album Otra Nota (1993 - Discos CBS International), and he took it took a music convention called Radio y Musica. When he performed the song at the convention, many in the music business took notice and soon the offers started rolling in. The same day he got to do a performance on the television show Carnaval Internacional and shortly after was getting offers to tour all over America in countries including USA, Mexico, Panama, Ecuador and Colombia. Anthony has later recalled that he was literally swept away with this newfound fame. His first album found him in his new salsa mode and showcasing his developed vocal style. The album does rely on many of the trappings of its era, in terms of production, but the selection of material serves him well in displaying his wide vocal range and control. Famed producer Sergio George worked with Anthony on this album.
Anthony's next album was Todo A Su Tiempo (1995 - Soho Latino) and the first to bring his to superstardom. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his songs "Te Amare", "Se Me Sigue Olvidando" and "Nadie Como Ella". Anthony was employing some of the top session musicians like percussionists Bobby Allende, Luis Quintero and Marc Quiñones and bassist Ruben Rodriguez. Once again Anthony worked with producer George to achieve a salsa pop sound that helped them to sell enough records to go gold. Though many salsa purists have shunned Anthony, his sound has proved irresistible to the record buying public and his follow-up record, Contra la Corriente (1997 - Sony), took yet another turn. Rather than the fast paced salsa records he had been creating, Anthony turned to a softer, more romantic ballad style for this album. This album turned Anthony into a sex symbol for many women. Soon Anthony started to become romantically involved with the singer and actress Jennifer Lopez.
Anthony's next album was Marc Anthony (1999 - Columbia), and became the one to crossover to the English speaking markets of the United States. The majority of the songs on this album were sung in English and many of them were penned by Anthony himself, such as "I Need To know" and "You Sang to Me". He had a top five single with the song "I Need To Know". He also won a Grammy that year for his sold out concert at the Madison Square Garden. Although he did succeed in gaining a new audience, he continued to alienate previous fans, who appreciated him for his salsa flavored pop albums of the past. Anthony also had an HBO show the next year, which was about his monumental concert, called Marc Anthony: The Concert from Madison Square Garden. These recent events solidified Anthony's position and a pop star, materially far from his roots but with an extensive fan base to draw upon.
All the while Anthony was cultivating a second career for himself in the film world and had already appeared in independent films such as Hackers, Big Night and Bringing Out the Dead. In 2001 Anthony release his hit record Libre (2001 - Sony), tried to regain some of his musical validity by recording another Spanish language album of salsa tinged pop songs such as his hit single "Celos". The final song on the album, "Caminaré", finds Anthony making a move towards traditional bolero music.
Anthony's second English language album was Mended (2002 - Sony), which was a sort of companion release to his previous Libre record. His single "I've Got you" helped him to maintain his status as a pop star in the American pop markets. Many of his original fans though kept complaining that the quality of Anthony's material was declining. This opinion was not rfelcted in his record sales though.
Anthony continues to hold a position on the top tiers of the latin pop music scene. He married Lopez in 2004, the same year he released his album Amar Sin Mentiras (2004 - Sony). In 2007 Anthony appeared in a film about famed salsa singer, Hector Lavoe, and the soundtrack album, El Cantante (2007 - Norte), helped Anthony to show that he could still sing in the salsa style he originally gained international fame with.