Marc Anthony

At 55 years old, Marc Anthony has this physical status:

Muñiz began his career as a session vocalist for freestyle music and underground New York house music acts. After changing his name to avoid confusion with his namesake, Anthony worked as a songwriter and backing vocalist for pop acts Menudo and the Latin Rascals. By the early 1990s, Anthony had sold more salsa records than any other performer on the planet, solidifying his position among the most important new salsa artists to emerge in the 1990s. Unlike the more socially conscious New York salsa musicians of the 1960s and 1970s, or the highly produced "romantic" salsa artists of the 1980s, Anthony gained fame performing a salsa style that borrowed more heavily from the African American and urban genres that he listened to growing up, such as rhythm and blues and house.

His first album was a freestyle music record, "Rebel", which debuted in 1988 on Bluedog Records. That same year he wrote and produced "Boy I've Been Told" for fellow freestyle artist Sa-Fire. Then in 1989, he sang backup vocals for Ann-Marie on the freestyle club hit, "With or Without You" produced by Little Louie Vega and Todd Terry. A year later in 1990, with Little Louie Vega and Todd Terry, Marc wrote a duet with Chrissy I-eece, called "You Should Know By Now". In 1992, still working with Todd Terry, he provided vocals for "Love Change", which is on the flip-side of a 12" vinyl released by Elan and The Powermachine titled "Here's Your Hat", production of Todd Terry. At the same time, he collaborated with music producer Little Louie Vega, who featured the singer on many freestyle-flavored club hits "Ride On The Rhythm" and the "When The Night Is Over" album, which featured the freestyle classic "Time." In 1992, Vega and Anthony opened for Latin bandleader Tito Puente at New York's Madison Square Garden. After 1992, he changed his style from freestyle to salsa and other Latin styles.

Anthony was initially reluctant to become a salsa musician and declined an offer to make a salsa album when Ralph Mercado, president of RMM Records, asked him. Anthony was in a taxi when he heard Juan Gabriel's hit song, "Hasta Que Te Conocí", which influenced him to change his mind and ask Mercado if he could record it as a salsa tune. Inspired by the music of Tito Puente, Héctor Lavoe, Rubén Blades, and Juan Gabriel, Anthony released his Spanish-language debut, Otra Nota, in 1993. Marc Anthony Biography Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Sing365.com. Retrieved October 1, 2011. The album also included a cover of Bread's song, "Make It with You". Subsequent tours throughout the Americas, including an opening slot for Blades, established Anthony as one of the new stars in salsa. In 1994, he was featured in La India's album Dicen Que Soy, on the song "Vivir Lo Nuestro".

His 1995 follow-up, Todo a su tiempo, won Anthony a Billboard award for Hot Tropical Artist of the Year. The album was also nominated for a Grammy with songs like "Te Conozco Bien", "Hasta Ayer", "Nadie Como Ella", "Se Me Sigue Olvidando", "Te Amare", and "Llegaste A Mi". The album has sold more than 800,000 copies and has become established as a gold record in the United States and in Puerto Rico.

Anthony's next Spanish language album, Contra La Corriente, was followed by the television special Marc Anthony: The Concert from Madison Square Garden. It was broadcast on HBO on Valentine's Day in 2000. The special was nominated for the Music Special of the Year by TV Guide. The album's song "Y Hubo Alguien" became Anthony's first number-one single on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks and the first by a salsa musician. The album became the first salsa album to enter the English language Billboard 200 chart. After an ongoing battle with RMM, he severed ties with Ralph Mercado and left the label in 1999.

Otra Nota, Todo a Su Tiempo, and Contra La Corriente established him as the top-selling singer in the history of the genre, able to sell out Madison Square Garden and prestigious venues internationally.

Anthony subsequently recorded the duet "No Me Ames" with Jennifer Lopez on her album On the 6, giving her an assist in her Spanish language crossover attempt. He also recorded a duet "I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You" with Tina Arena, written by James Horner for the latter's soundtrack for the 1998 swashbuckling movie The Mask of Zorro.

In 1999, riding the crossover wave of Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias in the Anglophone market, Anthony, working with producers Walter Afanasieff, Cory Rooney, Dan Shea, and Rodney Jerkins, released an English-language, self-titled album with the US Top 5 single "I Need to Know", and the Spanish version, "Dímelo". His song "You Sang To Me" was featured in Runaway Bride. A dance version was remixed by Dutch producer Rene Van Verseveld. The album debuted at number eight on the Billboard album chart, and six weeks later went platinum; it eventually was certified triple platinum. The song "I Need To Know" earned a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

In 2001, he debuted another salsa album, Libre, which was certified gold with songs like "Celos", "Este Loco Que Te Mira", and "Viviendo". The album spent 14 weeks at the number-one spot on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. The year after that, he made another English-language album, Mended.

In June 2004, Anthony released a Latin pop album, Amar Sin Mentiras. The following month, he reintroduced its songs with a danceable salsa rhythm in another album, Valio La Pena. The song "Escapémonos" was a duet with Jennifer Lopez. In the 2005 Latin Grammy Awards, his Amar Sin Mentiras won best Latin Pop Album of The Year, and his Valió La Pena won Best Tropical Album of the Year. Lopez and Anthony performed "Escapémonos" at the 2005 Grammy Awards.

On July 11, 2006, Anthony released Sigo Siendo Yo, a Spanish greatest-hits album. In May 2010 he released Iconos, a tribute to old Latin songs by artists such as José Luis Perales, Juan Gabriel and José José. In 2012, he released a new song called "Cautivo De Este Amor". In the same year, Anthony was inducted into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame.

In December 2012, it was announced that Anthony was recording a salsa album alongside longtime producer Sergio George. Vivir Mi Vida, a Spanish adaptation of Khaled's song "C'est la vie", was released as the lead single on April 25, 2013. In July 2013, Anthony released 3.0, a salsa album including his song "Vivir Mi Vida". Since the release, the album has been certified Platinum. In addition to the new album, Anthony announced his Vivir Mi Vida World Tour and traveled across 15 countries on three continents. After the tour, Anthony announced a second world tour for his album 3.0, his Cambio de Piel Tour.

After his Cambio de Piel Tour, Marc Anthony kicked off UNIDO2, his international tour with Carlos Vives. Marc Anthony is in constant demand for touring. After The Vivir Mi Vida world tour, one of PollStar's top selling tours of 2013, was extended to May 2014 by popular demand, and received a Premio Juventud for Super Tour of the Year. Gigant3S, his US and Latin American tour with Marco Antonio Solis and Chayanne, topped 2012's Billboard Hot Latin Tours charts.

Anthony sang "God Bless America" at the 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Citi Field.

In September 2016, part of his tour "Marc Anthony Live" included 5 dates at Radio City Music Hall. Of the five shows, three were sold out.

Acting career

Anthony played supporting roles in projects including 1995's Hackers, and 1996's Big Night and The Substitute. He appeared with Rubén Blades and Puerto Rican pop singer Ednita Nazario in Paul Simon's 1998 stage musical, The Capeman, which ran for 68 performances. He had a role in Martin Scorsese's 1999 drama Bringing Out the Dead, and in 2001, opposite Salma Hayek, was in the film In the Time of the Butterflies. In Man On Fire (2004), Anthony, opposite Denzel Washington, played a wealthy businessman who hires a former U.S. Special Forces Soldier to protect his daughter from kidnappers in Mexico City. In 2007, Anthony starred in El Cantante, a biographical drama about the life of salsa music legend Héctor Lavoe, who died in 1993 from AIDS complications. Anthony's then-wife, Jennifer Lopez, narrated the story and portrayed Lavoe's wife. The film, released in August 2007, received strong reviews. In 2010, Anthony guest-starred in two episodes of the TNT medical drama HawthoRNe as a detective and the title character's (Jada Pinkett Smith) love interest. He was later named the executive music producer of the show. Anthony worked with ex-wife Lopez and director-choreographer Jamie King in late 2011 on a Latin talent series created by Simon Fuller, called Q'Viva! The Chosen. It follows Lopez and Anthony as they travel across 21 countries to find new talent. In 2012, Anthony guest-mentored on Season 2 of The X Factor. Anthony played the father of Sonny in 'In the Heights'

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