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| Birth Name(s) : Jon Secada |
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Full Jon Secada Biography
Jon Secada (born Juan Secada, 4 October 1961, Havana, Cuba) is a Cuban-American singer and songwriter. Secada was born in Havana, Cuba and raised in Hialeah, Florida, Secada has won two Grammy Awards and sold 20 million albums since his English-language debut album in 1992. His music fuses funk, soul, pop and Latin percussion. He also has appeared as a songwriter for Gloria Estefan, Enrique Iglesias, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Mandy Moore and other performers.
Secada arrived with his parents in the United States at the age of nine. While attending school, his family managed a coffee shop. As a teen, Secada discovered his gift for music. In the culturally diverse city of Miami, Secada was exposed to salsa and merengue. Secada also became interested in R&B and pop music performed by Barry Manilow, Marvin Gaye, Billy Joel, Elton John and Stevie Wonder.
Secada graduated from South Florida's Hialeah High School in 1979 and then enrolled at the University of Miami. During college, he became an accomplished jazz musician. He was inducted into the Iron Arrow Honor Society. He completed a Bachelor's degree in Music and then earned a Master's degree in Jazz Vocal Performance. .
In 1991, Secada legally changed his first name from Juan to Jon. The following year, Secada released his self-titled debut album "Jon Secada" (SBK/EMI), which sold over six million copies worldwide and being certified triple platinum in the U.S., where it reached No. 15 among the Billboard 200 albums chart.
Secada scored a No.5 Pop hit with his Gold single "Just Another Day," and three more top 30 hits, "Angel," "I'm Free," and "Do You Believe in Us?" received national radio play. The Spanish-language version of Secada's solo album, Otro Día Más Sin Verte (EMI-Latin), became the Number One Latin album of 1992 and earned Secada his first Grammy Award for "Best Latin Pop Album".
In 1994 by Secada's second album, Heart Soul and Voice (EMI) featured members of The Miami Sound Machine and guests Arturo Sandoval (trumpeter) and Betty Wright (background vocals). The album went Platinum in the US. One of its singles had a top ten Pop hit "If You Go" and a Top 30 hit "Mental Picture", which was used in the soundtrack for the film "The Specialist". His third album on EMI, Amor, was released in 1995 and earned Secada his second Grammy for "Best Latin Pop Performance".
Secada co-wrote the song "Bella," the Spanish version of "She's All I Ever Had" for Ricky Martin's 1999 Multi-platinum self-titled album. He also co-wrote and co-produced the song "Baila" for Jennifer Lopez, which appeared on her 1999 multi-platinum album, On the 6. He worked with teen singing sensation Mandy Moore on two of her tracks, "One Sided Love" and "It Only Took a Minute" from her self-titled multi-platinum album. In 2001 he was a backing vocalist on Enrique Iglesias's album multi-platinum Escape on the tracks "Don't turn off the Lights" and "Love 4 Fun".
Secada has performed with opera legend Luciano Pavarotti and recorded a duet with Frank Sinatra on "The Best Is Yet to Come" from Sinatra's Duets II album.
In 1995, Secada starred on Broadway's hit musical Grease, where he acted in the lead role of "Danny Zuko". Broadway called upon Secada once again in 2003, where he played the Emcee role in Sam Mendes' acclaimed version of Cabaret. In the fall of 2004, Secada also starred as "Joseph" in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's theatrical hit Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Nov 30, 2007: Jon participated in the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade which taped inside the Magic Kingdom at Disney World Orlando, Florida.
Secada, who supports the Republican Party, was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. The committee is charged with creating a multi-year action plan aimed at closing the educational achievement gap between Hispanic students and their peers.
Apart from his dedication to music, Secada has devoted himself to assisting charitable organizations. He has a lifelong commitment to community service and charity endeavors. He has been active with causes to help children, including education, AIDS research, and child abuse. His commitment to education and helping others lead him to create the Jon Secada Music Scholarship at the University of Miami, his alma mater.
He has been instrumental in raising funds in Washington, D.C. for the national effort "Keeping Music in Schools." He is a supporter of many initiatives including the Pediatric AIDS Unit at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital, the Lifebeat Concert to benefit AIDS, Amigos Together for Kids, Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Boys and Girls Club, among other charitable organizations.
Secada's first marriage to Jo Pat Cafaro ended in divorce in 1993. In 1999 he married Maritere Vilar, who gave birth to their first child, a daughter. Their second child, a boy, was born in 2002.
Secada is currently working on a duet with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Diva Lilian Garcia as well as co-writing several songs for her upcoming album which is scheduled to be released in early 2007. He also has been selected as one of three judges for the Latin American version of American Idol, called Latin American Idol. He appears on Olivia Newton-John's Holiday album "Christmas Wish", singing on the duet "Everytime it snows". |
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