Born:
September 16, 1969 in New York City.
Quote from Marc Anthony:
“I keep many recordings in my home which for me are like time capsules. Each recording is a day in my life and each time I hear one I remember the day and what I was feeling.”
Trivia:
"El Ultimo Beso", one of the tracks of his 1994 album Otra Nota, was composed by Marc Anthony’s father, Felipe Muniz.
Early Days:
Marc Anthony’s was born Marco Antonio Muniz, named after a Mexican singer by the same name. The son of Puerto Rican immigrants, he was tutored in music and composition by his musician-father, Felipe Muniz. Growing up among musicians, he realized early that he loved to sing and would use his family’s kitchen table in Spanish Harlem as a platform, belting out the one song he knew.
Anthony was 12 years old when he was discovered by David Harris, a producer of demos and commercials. The song he was singing at the time was the theme from Mickey Mouse, and led to his first professional job singing background vocals for Harris.
The Club Life:
Later he began singing in dance clubs in New York, always in English. By this time, he had changed his name to Marc Anthony to avoid any confusion with the Mexican singer. In 1992, Tito Puente asked him and Little Louie Vega, with whom Anthony collaborated on Vega’s film East Side Story, to open his revue at Madison Square Gardens. Their performance was well received, but the turning point in his career was still ahead.
The Song that Changed it All:
Anthony had no desire to sing in Spanish until one day he heard Juan Gabriel singing “Hasta Que Te Conoci”. He was so affected by the tune he called his manager to ask if he could record a salsa version. He took the tapes of his recording, borrowed some clothes, and went to a Latin music convention to perform. Most of those attending were DJs who, usually, aren't known for unbridled enthusiasm. But Anthony received a standing ovation and subsequent airplay that changed his life forever.
First Album:
Marc Anthony recorded his first album, When the Night is Over, in 1991 with friend and disc jockey Little Louie Vega. But it was the Spanish language, Otra Nota, produced in collaboration with Sergio George and released in 1994, that was the album that reflected his roots and put him squarely on the path of becoming the icon of contemporary salsa.
Salsa in English:
Despite his growing fame in the Latin music world, Anthony was relatively unknown in his own country until the 1999 release of Marc Anthony, his first pop CD in English. Fueled by the compelling rhythm of the album’s first single, “I Need to Know”, the album spent 11 weeks in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100.
Top Latin Artist:
Today, with over 8 million albums sold worldwide, Marc Anthony is the top selling Latin music artist of all time. But his career doesn’t begin and end with his music. Anthony also starred on Broadway in Paul Simon’s Capeman and on the silver screen with roles in The Substitute, Hackers, and most recently in Man on Fire with Denzel Washington.
And, of course, there are his two marriages. The first, to a former Miss Universe, Dayanara Torres, ended in divorce and was swiftly followed by his current tabloid-worthy marriage to Jennifer Lopez.
Recently he was included in a top ten list of influential New Yorkers compiled by New York Magazine