At a very young age, Lisette Melendez developed an interest in music drawing her inspirations from her mother and aunt’s performances in their local church choir and in community theaters. She was so eager to become a singer that she formed a boy/girl singing group while she was still in high school.
It was in 1967 that she was born in East Harlem, New York, U.S. which is also where she was brought up.
The American Latin pop/dance-pop singer is best known for her major hits in 1991, the song Together Forever was ranked #35 on the billboard hot 100 and the album sold over 700,000 copies. Most of her songs were big dance music hits which helped renewed interest in freestyle music in the 90s. As a teenager, she emulated Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler and was also a fan of Lisa Lisa a Puerto Rican freestyle music singer.
Interesting Details About Lisette Melendez
1. She was raised by Puerto Rican parents
The talented singer was born and raised in East Harlem, New York together with her four siblings in the town. She was raised by her Puerto Rican parents who were always playing a variety of music at home which increased her love for music. While growing spent most of her time at home listening to cassettes, working, and developing her singing skills.
2. Lisette Melendez got her career break in 1988
In the late 1980s, she sang backup track music for Carlos Berrios a record producer who worked with sweet sensation and Samantha fox. That became her break. She later released her single together forever produced by Carlos Berrios and Frankie Cutlass, she eventually had a full album with Fever/Columbia Records. She was also the lead vocals for the 1988 hit song “Noise”.
3. Her second album was a big hit
When Lisette Melendez released her second album in 1994, two of her songs, Goody Goody was #53 and A Day in my Life (without you) was #49 on the Billboard hot 100 hit and the other song, Will you ever save me was on the Rhythmic Top 40 at #38. In Japan, the album was well-received both commercially and critically. That same year, the album, True to Life, reached double-platinum status in japan where she also won a Grammy for the best new artist for that same year.
So also, her third album was a salsa song in Spanish and it was peaked at #8 on the Latin tropical/salsa airplay chart and also #23 on the Hot Latin tracks chart in 1998. Even though her previous albums were such great hits, the subsequent one did not gain much audience when it was released.
4. The singer has worked with other great freestyle talents
Among the people she was worked with are stars like Jade Starling, A-fire, and Lisa Lisa. She has also performed at the I love freestyle vol.1 live concert event which was held on January 17, 2015.
Melendez who is of Puerto Rican descent is seen as the queen of Latin freestyle has made her mark in the music industry. Hard work and perseverance had been the bedrock of her successful career, as a Latina, she has paved way for a lot who thought it would be hard for them to make it in the industry.
5. She has her own record label
Melendez started her own record label called Ladybug Records, she also released domestic violence and cyberbullying song “Rise”. She also signed her artist, Alex Malone, and is bent at making her record label succeed.
The self-taught singer sees the music industry especially the recording aspect as a bastion of racial equality and emphasizes that the problem in the record business is not ethnicity but the courage to keep trying till someone sees their potential. She is considered the most promising Latin singer in the business.
