Lissette Álvarez Chorens, commonly known as Lissette, (born March 10, 1947) is a singer, songwriter, and record producer from

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. She is best known for recording a Spanish language-version of

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer who is known for her distinctive husky voice. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' a ...

's "

Total Eclipse of the Heart "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is a song recorded by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler. It was written and produced by Jim Steinman, and released on Tyler's fifth studio album, ''Faster Than the Speed of Night'' (1983). The song was released as a single b ...

" in 1985.

Early life

Lissette was born March 10, 1947, in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

, at a time when her parents, Cuban TV stars

Olga Chorens Olga Chorens (born 7 February 1924) is a Cuban singer and actress. She started music early as young as 11. She gained huge fame after performing in the Cuban radio musical program ''Ritmos del Plata'' hosted by Tony Álvarez. They both played wi ...

and Tony Álvarez (''Olga y Tony''), were touring South America. While living with her parents in Havana, Cuba, Lissette made her first recording at age 5, the children's song "El Ratoncito Miguel", which would eventually become a hit for her. She and her sister Olguita were sent to live in the United States when she was 14 years old (on September 13, 1961) through

Operation Peter Pan Operation Peter Pan (or Operación Pedro Pan) was a clandestine exodus of over 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban minors ages 6 to 18 to the United States over a two-year span from 1960 to 1962. They were sent after parents feared that Fidel Castro and ...

, a US government sponsored program in conjunction with the Catholic Welfare Bureau, and which transported 14,000 Cuban children from Cuba to the United States. The scheme was devised for families opposed to the

Cuban revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

of 1959, who feared that the government would indoctrinate their children into

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

. Lissette has supported

Yo No Coopero Con La Dictadura ( en, I Do Not Cooperate with the Dictatorship) is a civil disobedience campaign by Cuban democracy activists. The campaign was launched by political prisoners Jorge Luis García Pérez and Jose Daniel Ferrer in 2005. Activists in Cuba carry ...

(''I Do Not Cooperate with the Dictatorship'').

Career

After two years in the US, Lissette and her sister were reunited with their parents in Miami and the whole family moved to

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 ...

in 1965 where she lived until 1979 and where she worked as a singer. In 1977 she was selected by

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

, the biggest Spanish Language TV Channel of America to represent the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in the sixth edition of the

OTI Festival OTI Festival ( es, Festival OTI de la Canción, pt, Festival OTI da Canção), often known simply as La OTI, was an international song competition, organised annually between 1972 and 2000 by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) ...

. Her entry, entitled "Si hay amor volverá" (If there is love, he will return) was warmly welcomed by the national juries, to the point that she ended second with eight points in a tie with the Dominican entrant Fernando Casado. Lissette started her career in

as an adolescent, then later moved to Miami. She hosted her own shows in the

Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...

network in Puerto Rico for several years and did Emmy Award winning TV specials at Channel 10 and

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

in Miami, Florida. Lissette had a successful recording career having more than 30 albums including 8

gold album Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

s and 2

platinum album Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

s. Lissette is an accomplished singer and songwriter who has produced most of her albums. She has received countless awards during her singing career, including a

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

award for her humanitarian work with children. In Latin America, she is known as: "an interpreter of romantic songs influenced by the

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

" (Cuban Music from A to Z, page 12).

Family

She was first married to singer

Chucho Avellanet Chucho Avellanet, nicknamed "Chucho", is a Puerto Rican singer and comedic actor of Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spa ...

. Together, they hosted ''El Show de Chucho y Lissette'' on

. Lissette is now married to Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter

Willy Chirino Willy Chirino (born April 5, 1947, in Consolación del Sur, Pinar del Río, Cuba) is a Cuban-American musician. Early life Following the communist revolution in Cuba, Chirino came to the United States in 1960 as part of Operation Peter Pan ...

. They reside in Miami.

References

Sources

Cuban Music from A to Z. By Helio Orovio. Durham, NC:

Duke University Press Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 D ...

, 2004. xi, 235 p.

External links

Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lissette 1947 births Living people Cuban women singers People from Lima Exiles of the Cuban Revolution in the United States