Mónica Naranjo

Mónica Naranjo Carrasco (born 23 May 1974) is a Spanish singer widely popular in Spain and Latin America and recognised as one of the most powerful voices of the Spanish and Latin American music scenes. She has performed with singers such as Luciano Pavarotti, Rocío Jurado and Mina Mazzini amongst others.

Biography

Early years

Mónica Naranjo was born in Figueres. Her parents, Francisco, a construction worker, and Patricia, a housewife, migrated from southern Spain (Seville and Málaga) to the north in the 1960s. Mónica, who is the oldest daughter in the family, has two younger siblings, Raquel and Enrique. Despite her troubled childhood, when she was only 4, she realised that music was her favourite activity.

At the age of 14, the young Mónica enrolled in a music school to learn singing, and she also was given a voice recorder as a present so that she could start composing and recording her own songs.

Pop career

She started singing at a very young age. Cristóbal Sánsano became her first producer. At 18, she emigrated to Mexico.

In 1994, she recorded her debut album, the self-titled Mónica Naranjo, after signing with Sony Music. The album resulted in the hit singles "Sola", "Solo se vive una vez", "El amor coloca", "Supernatural", "¡Óyeme!" and "Fuego de pasión". She was nominated for Eres Awards. Although the album went almost unnoticed in Spain, it had a great reception in Mexico, where it sold more than 900,000 copies.