Alex Cartañá (born Alexandra Rosamund Cartañá-Marks; 7 April 1983) is a British singer-songwriter and actress 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 Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
descent. Cartañá first came to fame in 2003 as the featured artist and co-writer of the
hit dance
record, "Shake It (Move a Little Closer)", which peaked at No. 16 in the
UK Singles Chart.
Early years and influences
She was born to a British mother and Spanish father, and was raised on the island of
Mallorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.
The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...
.
Cartañá spent her academic years between both English and Spanish educational systems, making her fully bilingual from a toddler. She is also able to speak a third language,
Catalan.
Cartañá’s academic career began in a small farming, rurally-located British school in Mallorca – The Academy – English Preparatory School. At 11 years of age, she moved to a strict Spanish
Catholic School
Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...
in the centre of Palma – Colegio San Cayetano. By the age of 17 she had convinced her parents to transfer her into the British schooling system, this time attending
Ardingly College
Ardingly College () is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school in the English Public school (UK), public school tradition located near Ardingly, West Sussex, England. The school ...
, a British Boarding school in
West Sussex
West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...
, so she could study Performing Arts. It would be here that Cartañá would start developing her performance skills through theatre studies, speech and drama lessons, and an acting course with
LAMDA
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. In ...
, as well as forming the school's first gospel choir who, in their spare time, practiced songs such as
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...
's version of "Jesus Loves Me" and mimicking
En Vogue
En Vogue is an American vocal girl group whose original lineup consisted of singers Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones. Formed in Oakland, California, in 1989, En Vogue reached No. 2 on the US Hot 100 with the singl ...
's "Does Anybody Hear Me".
Her father's love for
world music
"World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...
, including
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 Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
Flamenco
Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...
and
Brazilian bossa nova, would instill a tropical and exotic feel to her music. A Spanish pop and American popular music influence also could be heard during her early years.
Later on she would be captivated by mainstream
R&B and
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
, which, in her own words, has been described as "my childhood deprivation, which I had been longing to hear all my life! The missing part of the puzzle!" Her influences have included
Gloria Estefan
Gloria María Milagrosa Estefan (; ; born September 1, 1957) is an American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is an eight-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been named one of t ...
,
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...
,
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...
,
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
,
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
,
Toni Braxton
Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won seven ...
,
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men ( ) is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formed in 1985, they have been a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris, tenor Wanya Morris, Wanyá Mo ...
,
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
,
Cece Winans
Priscilla Marie Love, known professionally by her stage name as CeCe Winans, (born October 8, 1964) is an American gospel singer who has garnered 17 Grammy Awards, the most for any female gospel singer; 33 GMA Dove Awards, 19 Stellar Awards, ...
,
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...
,
Mary Wells
Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s.
Along with the Supremes, the Miracles, the Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F ...
, her mother's all-time-favourite
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...
,
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
,
Randy Crawford
Veronica "Randy" Crawford (born February 18, 1952) is an American retired jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 as a solo artist. However, sh ...
,
Roberta Flack
Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...
,
Gladys Knight & the Pips
Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American Rhythm and blues, R&B, soul music, soul, and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early ...
,
Diana Ross & The Supremes
The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...
,
Alejandro Sanz
Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro, better known as Alejandro Sanz (; born 18 December 1968), is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He has won 22 Latin Grammy Awards and four Grammy Awards. He has received the Latin Grammy for Latin Grammy Award ...
,
Rosario Flores,
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Qu ...
, and many more.
Cartañá attended the
University of Greenwich
The University of Greenwich is a public university located in London and Kent, United Kingdom. Previous names include Woolwich Polytechnic and Thames Polytechnic.
The university's main campus is at the Old Royal Naval College, which along wi ...
in her first year of her BA
Business Studies
Business studies, often simply called business, is a field of study that deals with the principles of business, management, and economics. It combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies, human resource manageme ...
and
E-Commerce
E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...
degree, but would move to the
University of Westminster
The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...
in her second year, after achieving first-class grades. It was during her time there that she would first enter the music business by working in her
sandwich year for a London-based management company, JBS Management & Hardzone Marketing. Whilst working as a
club promoter for
Def Jam Records and
Death Row Records
Death Row Records is an American record label that was founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey. The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists such as Dr. D ...
, as well as marketing various British musicians, Cartañá came into contact with
Big Brovaz and first struck a friendship with Dino McIntosh. Another songwriter Cartañá would become friends with was
Ali Tennant, known for writing hits for
Westlife
Westlife are an Irish pop group formed in Dublin in 1998. The group consists of members Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily. Brian McFadden was a member before leaving in March 2004. The group disbanded in 2012 and later reun ...
,
Boyzone
Boyzone were an Irish boy band created in 1993 by the talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's ''The Late Late Show (Ireland), The Late Late Show''. Its most successful line-up was co ...
and
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...
. Tennant assisted Cartañá in making her first demo. Cartañá returned to complete her fourth and final year at the University of Westminster and graduated in the fall of 2002.
Career
"Shake It (Move a Little Closer)"
In mid-2003, only months after signing with
EMI
EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
, the opportunity of co-writing and featuring on an already instrumental dance track arose. She co-wrote and performed on "Shake It (Move a Little Closer)" by Lee-Cabrera (the New York production duo of Steven Lee and Albert Cabrera, erstwhile collaborators with Aretha Franklin,
Brian McKnight
Brian Kainoa Makoa McKnight Sr. (born Brian Kelly McKnight; June 5, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, record producer, radio personality, and multi-instrumentalist. An Contemporary R&B, R&B performer, he is recognized for his strong ...
and
Tori Amos
Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...
) for Credence/EMI UK, and supported by the
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
DJ
Pete Tong
Peter Michael Tong (born 30 July 1960) is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as '' Essential Mix'' and '' Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio streams, for ...
. Cartañá flew to
Malaga to shoot a video and perform in front of fans at the Radio 1 Road Show in
Ibiza
Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...
. The single, released on 26 August 2003, reached No. 16 in the UK Singles Chart. Her friendship with Albert Cabrera would lead the way for a second collaboration a few years later.
The EMI years
Her first solo single released under the EMI label was in April 2004 with "Hey Papi". The title and introduction showcased her Spanish heritage, and the sentiment of the song was inspired by the relationship between Cartañá and her father, whom, after the death of her elder sister, became over-protective. "Hey Papi" peaked at No. 34 in the UK chart. The
video
Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...
was directed by American director Charles Mehling, also known for directing
James Morrison's "One Last Chance" video. This would be her last piece of music to be released under the EMI label, as difficulties in decision-making towards her second single would start to take artist and label as well as her then management in different directions, also triggering uncertainty amongst all of those involved. An amicable decision was finally made in 2005, to allow Cartañá to walk away from her deal after almost eight months of deliberation. Two months after this major transition, Cartañá also left her management team.
During this time, Cartañá featured on the
Roll Deep
Roll Deep (formerly Roll Deep Entourage) are a British grime crew. They were founded in 2001 by Wiley shortly before the disbandment of UK garage crew Pay As U Go Cartel.
The group have had two UK No. 1 singles, " Good Times" and "Green Lig ...
song, "Be Careful", featured on their ''
In at the Deep End'' album .
In October 2004, a third song from Cartañá, "Lost Your Mind", was due for release, however the song was cancelled two weeks prior to the due date. This would be her last piece of music to be released under the EMI label, as difficulties in decision-making towards her second solo single, would start to take artist and label, as well as her then management in different directions, also triggering uncertainty amongst all of those involved.
2006–2009
In 2006, Cartañá teamed up with Paul Smith, a member of 365 Artists Management Company.
Dance projects such "Dig the Vibes" with Cabrera was released through Kidology Records, and a second dance track and co-writer credits was "Funkmanouver", commercially known as "Wait for Me", featured on the
Ministry of Sound
Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publisher (popular music), music publishing busin ...
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
, ''Housexy: Summer in the City'', released in March 2007.
Cartañá was working on new material independently and working towards a full Spanish album which was to be sprinkled with all her past influences. But that album came to a halt and never fully materialized. And she consequently decided to focus her attention on other ventures.
2015–present
In 2015, Cartañá became involved with
Disney Junior
Disney Jr. (formerly Disney Junior) is an American pay television network owned by the Disney Branded Television sub-division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company. Aimed mainly at children two to seven year ...
's animated series ''
The Lion Guard'', based on
Disney's 1994 film ''
The Lion King
''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical coming-of-age drama film directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Produced by Walt Disney ...
''. She sings backing vocals on all of the songs on the show, including lead vocals for the song "Trail to Hope". She also voices the character Twiga the giraffe, whose first appearance was singing the lead vocals for the song "Kupatana Community".
Cartaña voices the character of Assistant Matron in
Earwig and the Witch
Discography
Singles
*2003: "Shake It (Move a little Closer)" – US (
Hot Dance Music/Club Play
The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...
) No. 9, US (
R&B) No. 83,
UK No. 16
*2004: "Hey Papi" – UK No. 34
*2004: "Lost Your Mind"
Personal life
In 2011, she married American singer, composer and musician
Beau Black
Beau Black (born August 5, 1983) is an American composer, producer, musician, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist from New York City, New York. He served as the primary songwriter for Disney's television show '' The Lion Guard'', and receiv ...
. Together they have one child, a daughter, who was born in May 2021.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartana, Alex
1983 births
Living people
Actresses from Sussex
Alumni of the University of Greenwich
Alumni of the University of Westminster
English people of Spanish descent
English voice actresses
English women singer-songwriters
Musicians from Sussex
People educated at Ardingly College
People from Mallorca
Sony Music Publishing artists
Spanish people of British descent
Spanish voice actresses
21st-century British singers
21st-century Spanish women singers
21st-century Spanish singers