Deborah Nowalski Kader (born 6 August 1980), better known by her stage name Debi Nova (), is a Costa Rican singer-songwriter that is widely considered to be the most successful Costa Rican artist in the country's history. Nova first started as a backing vocalist for

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

, one of Costa Rica's biggest and most-beloved rock bands of the '90s and '00s. Her international music career began when she became a backing vocalist for

Sérgio Mendes Sérgio Santos Mendes (; 11 February 1941 – 5 September 2024) was a Brazilian musician. His career took off with worldwide hits by his band Brasil '66. He released 35 albums and was known for playing bossa nova, often mixed with funk. He ...

and

Ricky Martin Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography incorporati ...

. She then collaborated with multiple artists, including

the Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...

and

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Paul's first album, ''Stage One'', was released in 2000. He gained international fame with his second album, ''Dutty Rock'', in 2002. Its single "Get Busy ...

, and wrote songs for Orishas and

RBD RBD was a Mexican Latin pop group that gained popularity from Televisa's telenovela ''Rebelde'' (2004–2006). It was composed of Anahí, Dulce María, Maite Perroni, Alfonso Herrera, Christopher von Uckermann and Christian Chávez. The group ac ...

. In 2004, she released her first solo single, "One Rhythm", which reached the top spot on Billboard's US

Dance Club Songs 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 ...

Chart and was featured on the EA

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

2005 video game soundtrack. Since then, Debi has collaborated with other artists, including

Franco de Vita Franco Atilio De Vita De Vito (born January 23, 1954, in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan Latin Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter. His first album as a solo artist garnered three Spanish-language hits in Venezuela. He signed with the ...

Ce'Cile Ce'cile (also spelled Cécile, born Cecile Claudine Charlton on 24 February 1974 in Manchester Parish, Jamaica), is a Jamaicans, Jamaican musician in the dancehall genre. Biography Ce'cile grew up in Porus, and Mile Gully, Jamaica, spending mos ...

, Fonseca, Sheila E., Vicente García,

Gian Marco Gian Marco Javier Zignago Alcóver (born 17 August 1970) is a Peruvian musician and actor. He has won the Latin Grammy Award for the Best Singer-Songwriter Album three times. First in 2005 for his album ''Resucitar'', in 2011 for his album ''Dí ...

, Pedro Capó, Andrea Echeverri, and

Tony Succar Antonio Guillermo "Tony" Succar (born 18 May 1986),Wall Street International Magazine, 11 July 2012 retrieved 1 June 2013. is a Peruvian- American percussionist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and producer. He is the son of singer Mimy Succa ...

. She has also released 5 albums, 3 of which earned her Latin Grammy nominations for Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Album, Best Singer-Songwriter Album, Best Tropical Song, and Best Engineered Album, the latter of which she won. In 2020, she was nominated for Best Latin Pop or Urban Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards for her fourth album, '3:33', becoming the first Costa Rican artist ever to be nominated for a Grammy Award. She also holds the title of most streamed Costa Rican artist on Spotify.

Early life

Debi was born on 6 August 1980 in Escazú, San José,

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

and is of Polish Jewish descent. She is a second generation Costa Rican, as her grandparents immigrated to Costa Rica from Poland in the 1930s. She started playing piano at age four, and played classical music for ten years. She became a singer-songwriter and a multi-instrumentalist at the age of 14. She moved to Los Angeles at 17 when she signed her first record deal. She is a graduate of Los Angeles College of Music.

Career

Nova started as a backing vocalist for

, with whom she had the chance to open for

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

. She has also worked with

, with whom she recorded a Spanish version of the song " I Don't Care". Nova sang background vocals for

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

in her song "Lace and Leather", from her album ''

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

''. In 2004 she scored the number one track on the US

chart with "One Rhythm". A remix of the song was featured on the soundtrack for the

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

video game

FIFA Football 2005 ''FIFA Football 2005'', also known as ''FIFA Soccer 2005'' in North America or simply ''FIFA 2005'', is a football simulation video game released in 2004. It was developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for the Pl ...

. She was featured in projects by

Illa J John Derek Yancey (born October 13, 1986), better known by his stage name Illa J, is an American rapper, singer, record producer and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan who has released two albums on Delicious Vinyl Records. He is the younger bro ...

(brother of

J Dilla James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006), better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer, composer and rapper. He emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michiga ...

) and Sa-Ra as well as

Urban Legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

's Tropical Techniques. On 20 April 2010, she made her US television debut on ''Dancing with the Stars''. Nova also participated in the Colgate MaxWhite Charging Up The Music campaign. She released her first studio album '' Luna Nueva'' in 2010, which featured her single " Drummer Boy". In 2011,

MTV Latin America MTV is a Latin American pay television network that was launched on 1 October 1993 as the Hispanic American version of MTV. It is owned by Paramount Networks Americas, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The channel broadcasts music videos as ...

awarded her the prize MTV Chiuku for her work in the United Nations campaign "UNITE to end violence against women" organized by

UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity charged with working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women is charged with advocating for the righ ...

, and in April 2012 she was named ambassador of YUNGA (Youth and United Nations Global Alliance). Nova was one-third of the group "LR1" (Latinos are One) for a while, along with Jean Shepherd (of the electro-Latin funk band, Navegante) and Velcro. Their single "Maña y Corazón" was produced by Andres Levin and released on 13 September 2011, to kick off Latino Heritage Month. Nova was selected as the official voice of the

Central American Games The Central American Games () are a multi-sport regional championships event, held quadrennial (every 4 years), typically in the first year after Summer Olympics. The Games are open for member federations of the Central American Sports Organ ...

, San José 2013, with the song "Arriba Arriba" (Get Up, Get Up) and was also invited to participate in the

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

Joven Pura Vida (Youth Pure Life) conference, where she shared her story, her music and encouraged young people to follow their dreams. On 17 December 2013, she released her EP ''Un Dia a la Vez''. The project was entirely in Spanish and served as a preview for her next album, "SOY", which was released on 24 June 2014. The album was produced by Grammy-winning producer Cachorro López. The album released four singles, "Un Día A La Vez", "Amor", "Emergencia" and "Cupido". The latter was released in two versions, one featuring Puerto Rican singer

Sie7e David Rodríguez Labault (born July 26, 1977) is a Latin Grammy winning Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican singer and songwriter who performs under the stage name Siete (usually stylized as Sie7e). Career David Rodríguez Labault, known as Sie7e by hi ...

, and the other featured Jamaican Reggae/Dancehall singer

. ''SOY'' was nominated at the 2014 Latin Grammy Awards in the Best New Vocal Pop Album category. in 2016, Debi won the first season of Colombia's Version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. She released her third album ''Gran Ciudad'' in 2017, on

Sony Music Latin Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC (often referred to as Sony Music Latin) is an American record label owned by Sony Music. The label focuses on artists of Latin music. Sony Latin was also a division of the Sony Discos label. History In ...

for which she was nominated at the Latin Grammys 2017 in the category "Best Singer-Songwriter Album". She performed her single "No Nos Sobran Los Domingos" at the 2017 pre-Grammy show. In May 2020 she released her album '3:33' after a series of concerts in Costa Rica. She was nominated at the 2020 Latin Grammys for Best Tropical Song for her song "Quédate" in collaboration with Pedro Capó and for Best Singer-Songwriter album for "3:33". The album was also nominated for Best Engineered Album, which ended up winning. Nova performed the song "3:33" at the main ceremony. On 24 November 2020, it was announced that Nova was nominated for Best Latin Pop or Urban Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards Ceremony, her first nomination at the awards.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Luna Nueva'' (2010) * ''

Soy The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source of f ...

'' (2014) * '' Gran Ciudad'' (2017) * '' 3:33'' (2020) * '' Dar Vida'' (2024)

Singles

Participations

* 2002 : ''Won't You Stay'' by Norman Brown * 2003 : ''Tomorrow'' by

* 2004 : ''Appreciate'' by

Boney James Boney James (born James Oppenheim September 1, 1961) is an American saxophonist, recording artist, songwriter and record producer. He is a four-time Grammy Award nominee (Best Pop Instrumental Album, 2001, 2004, 2014 and Best Traditional R&B Per ...

* 2005 : ''Qué Más Da'' by

* 2006 : '' Timeless'' by

Sergio Mendes Sergio may refer to: * Sergio (name), for people with the given name Sergio * Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found * Sergio, the mascot for the Old Orchard Beach Surge Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungar ...

* 2008 : ''

'' by

* 2014 : '' Latin Lovers''

Collaborations

* 2003 : ''International Affair'' by

* 2003 : ''Latin Girls'' by

The Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...

* 2005 : ''One Rhythm (Do Yard Riddim Mix)'', ''

'' * 2011 : ''Si Quieres Decir Adiós'' de

Franco De Vita Franco Atilio De Vita De Vito (born January 23, 1954, in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan Latin Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter. His first album as a solo artist garnered three Spanish-language hits in Venezuela. He signed with the ...

* 2012 : ''One Woman'' * 2018 : ''Paradise'' de Barzo * 2018 : Tú No Te Imaginas by

* 2020 : ''QTPC'' de BAMBI

Important Performances

* 2020: Latin Grammy Awards * 2017: "Latin Grammy Pre-Show" * 2017: "Sofar Songs from a Room & Amnesty International" * 2016: "RiseUp AS ONE " * 2015: "Dalai Lama's 80th Birthday" * 2015: "South South Awards" * 2014: "Sofar Songs from a Room" * 2014: "Latin Grammy Person Of The Year" * 2013: "TEDx Pura Vida" * 2009: "

Dancing With The Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

" * 2010: "

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and has ...

" * 2010: "Despierta America" * 2010: " LARAS" *2010: "World Youth Conference MX" * 2007: " Miss Costa Rica" * 2005: "

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is an annual promotional event sponsored by and featuring Victoria's Secret, a brand of lingerie. From 1995 to 2018, Victoria's Secret used the show to market its goods in high-profile settings. Models under ...

(with

Films featuring Debi Nova’s music

* 2017: ''Hombre de Fe'': Al Frente * 2016: ''First Lady of the Revolution'': Guerrera * 2015: ''Pr1mero de Enero'': Volver a Comenzar * 2015: ''Spare Parts'': Guerrero ( Fonseca ft. Debi Nova) * 2011: ''From Prada to Nada'': Need 2 B Loved * 2006: ''Americano'': Naturale * 2005: ''Prime'': Lay Low * 2004: ''Mean Girls'': Let Me Let Go

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official Website
* * 1. *"5 questions for Costa Rican musician Debi Nova - The Tico Times - February, 2018" -

2. *"Feature – Debi Nova, Costa Rican Singing Sensation - Howler Magazine - May 2017"
Feature - Debi Nova, Costa Rican Singing Sensation
3. *"Debi Nova, Costa Rican Singer-Songwriter - The Costa Rica Star - 17 June 2016" - "https://news.co.cr/debi-nova/48029/" 4. *"Debi Nova Among Tico Nominations At Latin Grammys - Costa Rica Extra - September 2014" - "http://qcostarica.com/debi-nova-among-tico-nominations-at-latin-grammys/" 5. *"UN DÍA A LA VEZ" DE DEBI NOVA DISPONIBLE YA EN iTUNES - People Music - December, 2013"

6. *"Noche de luna purpura - La Nacion - April 2012" - "http://wvw.nacion.com/viva/1998/febrero/10/espec1.html" 7. *"Debi Nova, Biography by Andy Kellman - All Music - May, 2010" -

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nova, Debi 1980 births Living people Musicians from San José, Costa Rica Costa Rican Jews Costa Rican people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent Costa Rican emigrants to the United States Costa Rican women singers Costa Rican dance musicians 21st-century women singers Women in Latin music Latin music songwriters