Anaís Martínez (born June 22, 1984) is a

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been ...

-nominated Dominican-American singer from

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. She rose to fame after winning the

Puerto-Rican Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

singing competition show ''

Objetivo Fama ''Objetivo Fama'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''OF'', Spanish for ''Target: Fame'') is a Puerto Rican singing talent contest that aired for over six years on WLII, the Univision outlet in Puerto Rico; and on Telefutura in the mainland United Stat ...

'' in 2005.

Early life

Anaís was born in

. She came to the United States at an early age and was raised in The Bronx, New York City since she was eight years old. Her passion of music began through her work with the Los Cumbiancheros school choir, performing regionally in a variety of styles, including Latin, reggaeton, salsa,

tropical music Tropical music ( es, música tropical) is a term in the Latin music industry that refers to music genres deriving from or influenced by the Spanish-speaking areas of the Caribbean. It includes the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, The Dominican Republ ...

and ballads in both Spanish and English. In 2002, she appeared on an episode of ''

The Jerry Springer Show ''Jerry Springer'' is an American scripted syndicated tabloid talk show that aired from September 30, 1991 to July 26, 2018. Produced and hosted by its namesake, Jerry Springer, it aired for 27 seasons and nearly 5,000 episodes. The television ...

'' titled "Bring On The Bisexuals".

Career

Breakthrough, ''Asi Soy Yo'' (2005–06)

In 2005, Anaís won the second season of ''

'', a Puerto Rican reality competition show, which aired on

Univision Puerto Rico WLII-DT (channel 11), branded on-air as TeleOnce, is a television station licensed to Caguas, Puerto Rico, serving the Territories of the United States#Permanently inhabited territories, U.S. territory as an affiliate of Univision and UniMás. ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

and on the Telefutura network in the mainland. She released her debut album '' Así Soy Yo'' (translated as "This Is The Way I Am") on April 18, 2006, where it peaked as number 79 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The album was preceded by the singles "Atrapada", " Lo Que Son Las Cosas", " Estoy Con Él Y Pienso En Ti", and "Estar Contigo". "Lo Que Son Las Cosas", which was originally made famous by

Ednita Nazario Edna María Nazario Figueroa (born April 11, 1955) is a Puerto Rican musician, singer, and composer who has achieved stardom both at home and abroad. She has been in the music business from a young age and has released twenty-three (23) studio ...

, charted and peaked at number 79 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and topped the

Hot Latin Tracks The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, ra ...

chart for 6 weeks straight, earning her four Billboard Award nominations. "Estoy Con Él y Pienso En Tí" also charted in the top 10 of the Hot Latin Tracks chart and in the top 5 of the Latin Tropical charts. The album garnered several award nominations, including the 2006

Latin Grammys The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been r ...

's "Best Pop Vocal Album" and Lo Nuestro's "Best New Artist". The album is the highest selling album from any "Objetivo Fama" contestant and Anaís is widely considered to be the most successful winner of the show. On September 16, 2006, she began her ''Así Soy Yo'' Tour in

. During this time, Anaís released "Arriba, Arriba" for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

, alongside

Ana Bárbara Altagracia Ugalde Mota (born January 10, 1971), better known as Ana Bárbara, is a Mexican singer, actress, television personality and model. She has become a prominent figure within Latin entertainment since her professional debut in 1994 and is ...

Pablo Montero Pablo Montero (born Óscar Daniel Hernández Rodríguez August 23, 1974) is a Mexican singer and actor. Montero's primary profession is singing, but he also acts regularly in telenovelas produced by Televisa productions in supporting roles. Mont ...

and

Mariana Seoane Mariana Seoane (born Mariana Alejandra Seoane García on June 10, 1976 in Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican actress, model and singer. Biography Seoane was born June 10, 1976, from an Argentinian mother and a Cuban-Mexican father, Seoane demons ...

''Con Todo Mi Corazón'' (2007–09)

On January 15, 2007, Anaís released "Tu Amor No Es Garantía", her first single from her second studio album '' Con Todo Mi Corazón'', which was released on April 3 in the United States and on April 18 in Mexico. The album placed at number 20 on ''Billboard''s Latin Pop charts. Its second single, "Sólo Mio", went Top 30 and peaked at No. 29 on the Latin Charts, making it Anaís's fourth Top 30 hit on the Latin Charts along with "Lo Que Son Las Cosas", "Estoy Con Él Y Pienso En Ti", and "Arriba, Arriba". During this time, Anaís performed the song "Como Tu Mujer" in a televised tribute to Mexican singer

Marco Antonio Solís Marco Antonio Solís Sosa (born 29 December 1959) is a Mexican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. Born and raised in Ario de Rosales, Michoacán, Solís began his musical career at the age of six, performing part of Los Hermanito ...

. Solís was so impressed by the performance that he invited Anaís as a special guest and opening act for his concert in Madison Square Garden. Anaís released the song on a special deluxe edition of the album on October 16, 2007. In 2007, she won a Casandra Award for "Most Outstanding Artist Located in Another Country". In August 2008, Anaís posed for the cover of ''

Smooth Smooth may refer to: Mathematics * Smooth function, a function that is infinitely differentiable; used in calculus and topology * Smooth manifold, a differentiable manifold for which all the transition maps are smooth functions * Smooth algebrai ...

'' magazine. On May 17, 2009, she appeared on the series finale of ''Objetivo Fama'', singing her hit "Estoy Con Él Y Pienso En Ti" and announcing that she was filming a film in the Dominican Republic and had started working on her third album. The album was planned to be completely in English and mark her debut as an international artist. In 2009, Anaís made her film debut as "NYC Thug's Wife" in the crime film '' La Soga''.

Independent releases (2010–16)

Anaís parted ways with Univision, instead becoming an independent artist while attempting kickstart her music career in the United States. She released several independent pop singles during this period, including "Own It" on May 23, 2012, "Naked" on October 4, 2016, "Hostage" on March 24, 2017 and "Too Young" on August 11, 2017.

Television appearances (2017–present)

In 2017, Anaís joined the cast of '' Love & Hip Hop: New York'' in its eighth season. She returns in a supporting role in

season nine A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

, but disappears from the show after a few episodes. It is eventually revealed that she has been struggling with mental illness, and been in and out of mental health facilities for the past few months.

Personal life

Anaís is openly bisexual. She resides in

Clifton, New Jersey Clifton is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Criss-crossed by several major highways, the city is a regional commercial hub for North Jersey and is a bedroom suburb of New York City in the New York Metropolitan Area. As ...

with her Mother and husband Confesor Ruben Brito, a businessman who works at a luxury car dealership, younger brother Damian Martínez a host of AmericanxLatino show and their two sons, Diamond and King Brito. She holds both Dominican and American citizenships.

Discography

Albums

* '' Así Soy Yo'' (2006) * '' Con Todo Mi Corazón'' (2007)

Singles

References

External links

Anais Website ''ANAIS WORLD''

Anais on Univision
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anais 1984 births Living people People from Santo Domingo Dominican Republic composers 21st-century Dominican Republic women singers Reggaeton musicians Women in Latin music