Marc Anthony is a superstar New York Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, actor, and producer of music and television who is the best selling solo salsa artist of all time. He makes very good videos. Many people dream of living the life in those videos. It’s funny. He’s getting older, but not fatter. He has that lost in La Perla look.
Marc Anthony in New York City
Marc Anthony “Historia Tour 2024” brings Puerto Rican salsa and a little bachata to Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey; on Saturday, February 10, 2024 at 8pm. From $77. prucenter.com 🇵🇷
Dominican culture is getting hot. Many Puerto Rican artists go to the Dominican Republic to make music. That’s especially true among Puerto Rican reggaeton artists making dem bow in Santo Domingo’s Capotillo 42 neighborhood. Here it is in salsa. Dominican salsa sounds a little different than Puerto Rican salsa. It derives from son Dominicano instead of son Cubano. The güiro is different. The Dominican güiro is made from metal and has a brighter sound. The Puerto Rican güiro is made from a gourd and sounds more like a comb. The bongo player is playing in the style of the tambora drum, which comes from merengue and is present in all Dominican music. But it’s all Caribbean.
New York Venues
- Barclays Center
- Madison Square Garden
- Prudential Center
Marc Anthony
Marco Antonio Muñiz was born in New York City on September 16, 1968. His parents are from Guayama, Puerto Rico. It’s one of the places with strong Afro-Puerto Rican culture. “Tite” Curet Alonso, the salsa poet who wrote many Fania hits, was from there. Anthony was raised in “El Barrio” East Harlem.
Remember Menudo? Anthony started as a songwriter and backing vocalist for Puerto Rican boy band Menudo.
He started out as a freestyle singer. That was an English-language blend of disco and hip-hop popular in the late 1980s and early 90s.
Anthony started working with the now legendary DJ and producer Louie Vega. The two opened for Latin jazz legend Tito Puente at Madison Square Garden in 1992. The concert gave Anthony a lot of visibility in New York’s Latin community.
In 1993, he made the leap into salsa with “Otra Nota” (Another Note). The story is that he decided to sing salsa after hearing a Juan Gabriel song on the radio in a taxi. Soon Anthony was one of salsa’s rising stars.
Along the way Anthony lost his way like many artists do. La India cleaned him up. Together they sang “Vivir Lo Nuestro” on her “Dicen Que Soy” album in 1994. It’s still a great song.
Y Hubo Alguien
Anthony’s third Spanish-language album “Contra la Corriente” (1997) included the hit “Y Hubo Alguien.” It was Anthony’s first number-one single on Billboard’s Hot Latin Tracks, and the first Salsa record to hit that spot. “Contra la Corriente” also crossed over onto the Billboard 200 chart. It’s captures Puerto Rico’s rebel spirit.
I Need to Know in English
In 1999, Anthony crossed back over into English when his self-titled album. “I Need to Know” became a Top 5 single.
Marc Anthony for Babies Latin Grammy
“Marc Anthony for Babies” won a 2017 Latin Grammy Award for “Best Children’s Album.”
Best Tropical Latin Album Grammy
“Opus” won “Best Tropical Latin Album” at the 62nd Grammy Awards in 2020.
Pa’llá Voy
Pa’llá Voy” (Here I go, 2022) celebrated salsa in its various forms: from son, Latin soul, salsa dura, to salsa romántica. It won the Grammy for “Best Tropical Latin Album” and the Latin Grammy for “Best Salsa Album.”
Acting
Anthony also does some acting. He started on Broadway with “The Capeman” (1998). His first big movie was “Carlito’s Way” (1993). He was great in “El Cantante” (2006), the Héctor Lavoe story. In 2021, he was in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights.”
Follow Marc Anthony on marcanthonyonline.com or @marcanthony