Xenia Edith Martinez (born December 17, 1994),
known mononymously as Xenia, is an American singer who came in second place on
Blake Shelton
Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin (Blake Shelton song), Austin" from his Blake Shelton (album), self ...
's team and tied for 5th place overall on the first season of ''
The Voice''.
Life and career
Early life
Born in
Chula Vista, California
Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh-most populous city in Southern California ...
and raised in nearby Temecula, Xenia is the middle child in a family of five. She learned how to play the guitar when she was 6. The instruments she plays are the guitar, harmonica and piano (she learned by ear). She attended Great Oak High School, but was later home-schooled.
Prior to her entering ''The Voice'', none of her peers, including her best friend, knew that Xenia could sing.
2011: ''The Voice''
Xenia participated in
season 1 of ''The Voice'', making it to the Final 8 and placing 2nd on Team Blake. She auditioned with the song, "
Breakeven
Break-even (or break even), often abbreviated as B/E in finance (sometimes called point of equilibrium), is the point of balance making neither a profit nor a loss. It involves a situation when a business makes just enough revenue to cover its tot ...
", and was vied for by two judges,
Cee Lo Green and
Blake Shelton
Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin (Blake Shelton song), Austin" from his Blake Shelton (album), self ...
, but eventually chose Blake as her coach. She later emerged victorious over Sara Oromchi in the battle round phase, singing a duet of "
I'll Stand By You
"I'll Stand by You" is a song recorded by the British rock band the Pretenders from their sixth studio album, '' Last of the Independents'' (1994). The song was written by Chrissie Hynde and the songwriting team of Tom Kelly and Billy Steinbe ...
". Two of the studio versions of her live performances, "
Price Tag
A price tag is a label declaring the price of an item for sale. It may be a sticker or attached by twist tie or other means.
Some jurisdictions require items (possibly exceptions for bulk good and produce) to be individually marked with the p ...
" and "
The Man Who Can't Be Moved
"The Man Who Can't Be Moved" is the second single from Irish band the Script from their debut album, ''The Script''. The song was released on 25 July 2008. The song was used heavily in the CBS show ''Ghost Whisperer'' during its fourth season. T ...
", charted on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Price Tag" entered the
Bubbling Under Hot 100
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...
chart at 116 before climbing to 99 on the Hot 100 charts the subsequent week. She still keeps in touch with her coach, Blake Shelton, as well as past contestants such as
Dia Frampton
Dia Frampton (born October 2, 1987) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. Frampton is the lead singer of the band Meg & Dia, was the runner-up in the inaugural season of '' The Voice,'' and is perhaps most known for her presence and ...
,
Nakia
Nakia Daniel Reynoso (born February 20, 1975), known professionally as Nakia, is an American musician, singer-songwriter and actor living in Austin, Texas. He is a native of Fort Payne, Alabama.
Professional background
Nakia moved to Austin ...
and
Vicci Martinez
Vicci Martinez (born September 21, 1984) is an American singer/songwriter and actress from Tacoma, Washington. She came in joint third on NBC's singing competition series '' The Voice'' in 2011. She released her 2012 album with Republic Records ...
.
2011–present: ''Sing You Home'', collaboration with Blake Shelton, and ''Artemisa''
Riding on the influence from her participation in
''The Voice'', Xenia gave her first hometown performance at the 17th annual Temecula Valley International Film and Music Festival, singing her cover of "
Breakeven
Break-even (or break even), often abbreviated as B/E in finance (sometimes called point of equilibrium), is the point of balance making neither a profit nor a loss. It involves a situation when a business makes just enough revenue to cover its tot ...
" by
The Script
The Script are an Irish Soft rock, soft-rock band formed in 2001 in Dublin. The band currently consists of Danny O'Donoghue (lead vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards), Glen Power (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Benjamin Seargent (bass, backin ...
, which was her debut song on ''The Voice''. Thanks to her former coach
Blake Shelton
Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin (Blake Shelton song), Austin" from his Blake Shelton (album), self ...
, Xenia was also able to wrap up a performance at Los Angeles' Key Club, late December 2011, with singer-songwriter
Jon McLaughlin.
They sang a duet of "
Maybe It's Over". She has named Jon McLaughlin,
Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...
and
Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...
as her inspirations.
She was signed to
Universal Republic Records
Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially a ...
, and released her debut EP ''Sing You Home'' on December 20, 2011.
She has described the genre of this EP to be "inspiring soul pop".
It peaked at #3 on the iTunes Pop charts, and #10 on the iTunes overall charts.
She has since filmed a music video for her EP's lead single, "Sing You Home". Her robust, raspy voice has also gained the attention of celebrities like
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...
,
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...
and
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...
, who shared her music video on their YouTube channels. "Sing You Home" has now gained over 500,000 views on YouTube.
Xenia was working with a band to complete a full record with plans of having a full-length concert and going on tour in the near future. She has since parted ways with Universal, but went on to release a single, "Hiding Places", on September 25. A music video for "Hiding Places" was filmed and was to be released.
Xenia was featured on Blake Shelton's first Christmas album in 2012, ''
Cheers, It's Christmas
''Cheers, It's Christmas'' is the first Christmas album and seventh studio album by American country music artist Blake Shelton. It was released on October 2, 2012, through Warner Bros. Records, Warner Bros. Nashville. Shelton co-wrote three tra ...
'', providing guest vocals for the song "
Silver Bells
"Silver Bells" is a Christmas song composed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans.
It debuted in the motion picture '' The Lemon Drop Kid'' (1951), where it was started by William Frawley,"The Lemon Drop Kid" in The American Film Institute Catalog of ...
".
Xenia released a cover of "
America
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
" on September 27 for digital download. Xenia was later slated to perform the National Anthem at the televised
2013 Discover Orange Bowl game, but was replaced just hours before the game by country artist
Ayla Brown
Ayla Marie Brown (born July 28, 1988) is an American singer and former college basketball, NCAA basketball player from Wrentham, Massachusetts. In 2006, she was a contestant on American Idol (season 5), fifth season of ''American Idol'', finishi ...
, daughter of former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown.
Xenia appears in the 2014 Independent feature film ''
Life Inside Out'' singing "Hiding Places" as the character Xenia.
In August 2014, Xenia announced via Facebook that she was in the process of finishing her second EP, ''Artemisa'', which is titled after her grandmother. The EP was set to be released in the fall.
Discography
Extended plays
Singles
Videography
Music videos
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xenia
1994 births
The Voice (franchise) contestants
Living people
21st-century American singers
People from Temecula, California
21st-century American women singers