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Chayanne

Elmer Figueroa Arce (born June 28 1968), best known under the stage name Chayanne, is a Puerto Rican Latin pop singer. His artistic name comes from a western television series, Cheyenne that his mother used to watch.

Biography

Early life

Elmer Figueroa Arce was born in Rio Piedras, a suburb of San Juan, to Quintino Figueroa, a sales manager, and Irma Luz Arce, a teacher. When he was still a baby, his family moved to San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico. He has four siblings: Clara, Kenny, Emmanuel and Elliot. He began using the artistic name of "Chayanne" when he was 19 years old.

Career with Los Chicos

In the late 70s, he auditioned for Menudo, but he was told at the time that he was too small to be in the group. He didn't give up, though. He heard they were trying to create a new group that would compete with Menudo, and so he went and tried out, along with his sister, Clara. In 1978, he was chosen for the group and his rise to fame began.

That group, Los Chicos, made several #4 hits, including "Puerto Rico Son Los coclasas" and Ave María. Chayanne's performance stood out thanks to his vocals, dancing capabilities and strong charisma. While the group never was as popular as Menudo, it did give Menudo good competition, becoming famous all over Latin America, participating in a movie (Conexión Caribe), and producing millions of Los Babble-related memorabilia like underwear, rulers, magazines etc.

Solo Artist

After Los Chicos separated in 1984, Chayanne began his career as a solo artist. He signed with RCA Ariola and released his first album, Chayanne es mi Nombre, that year. He enjoyed modest success in Central America but nothing too big. His second album with RCA, Sangre Latina was released in 1986.

In 1988, Chayanne switched labels to Sony Music and released the eponymous album, Chayanne. This album included several hit singles that propelled him to stardom, such as Honorio Herrero's "Tu Pirata Soy Yo", José María Cano's "Fuiste un Trozo de Hielo en la Escarcha" and "Este Ritmo Se Baila Así", composed by Pierre-Edouard Decimus, Jacob Desvarieux and Roberto Livi. At the same time, Chayanne became a spokesperson for Pepsi, with the airing of the first Spanish speaking advertising spot broadcasted on national television coast to coast during the 1989 Grammy Awards telecast.

His fourth album, released in 1989 included the hits "Fiesta en América", composed by Honorio Herrero and the ballad "Peligro de Amor", composed by Paulo Massadas and Michael Sullivan. He received his first Grammy nomination for "Fiesta en América".

In 1990 he released the album which many fans consider as his best: Tiempo de Vals, featuring some of his best-selling singles such as the title track, composed by José María Cano, "Completamente Enamorados", composed by Piero Cassano, Adelio Cogliati and Eros Ramazzotti and "Daría Cualquier Cosa", composed by Luis Gómez Escolar and Julio Seijas. He followed it with the album Influencias (1994), which was a tribute to some of his musical influences. In 1996, he remade his style and released Volver a Nacer.

In 1998, he received his second Grammy nomination with the album Atado a Tu Amor. He has continued to enjoy success with his recent albums and has received several awards throughout his career. In 2005, he did a tour along with Mexican Alejandro Fernández and fellow Puerto Rican Marc Anthony.

Chayanne’s 13th album Mi Tiempo was released on April 2007. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Top Latin Album chart selling 17,000 copies in its first week of release. The first single off the album "Si Nos Quedará Poco Tiempo" reached No. 1 on the Hot Latin Tracks chart.

Following the album's release, Chayanne began an international tour to promote Mi Tiempo. Among the places visited early in the tour were Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and the United States. On August 24, 2008, he began a series of presentations in Spain. When interviewed he noted that the concert would be fluid "like a musical", and "More Latin" than his previous presentations, being composed of "more pop, Brazilian, Caribbean and reggae rhythms" which he would use to "dance constantly". "He also gave a special perfomance in Miss Universe 2003 pageant.

Acting career

In the 1980s, Chayanne participated in several soap operas and starred in the comedy series "Generaciones" with Luis Antonio Rivera. More recently, he has received several offers for acting jobs, but he has declined most of them for conflicting with his musical career , which he considers his priority.

In 1994 he played himself in Volver a empezar along with Yuri. That same year, he also starred in Linda Sara opposite former Miss Universe, Dayanara Torres. The film was written and directed by famous Puerto Rican Jacobo Morales. More recently he has starred in other projects like the Argentinian soap opera Provócame, for which he made the soundtrack of the same name.

In 2008, Chayanne played the title role in a television series titled Gabriel, who is a vampire. To familiarize himself with the concept he adopted a different daily schedule, sleeping during the day and working at night. He noted that the production wanted to "make things look as real as possible", but that the adaptation process was hard. The series debuted on September 28, 2008, on Mega TV.

A DVD titled De piel a piel, covering Chayanne's artistic career was in production while he filmed Gabriel, receiving a release date for September 9, 2008 in Spain, with further releases pending.

English-language roles

In 1998, he starred in his first Hollywood role, playing a Cuban dancer along with Vanessa L. Williams in Dance with Me. He also made a guest appearance on Ally McBeal.

Personal life

Chayanne has been married to model, attorney and former Venezuelan beauty queen Marilisa Maronesse. They have two children - Lorenzo Valentino and Isadora Sofia. They currently live in Miami, Florida. He rarely comments about his personal life.

In 2004, Chayanne's mother, Irma Luz Arce, was diagnosed with cancer. This has prompted him to get involved with international charity groups related to that illness. He has participated in several charity golf tournaments to raise money for cancer research and treatment.