Kathleen Emperatriz DeLuna
(born November 17, 1987. in The Bronx, New York) [1] is an American Pop and R&B singer of Dominican heritage, better known by her stage name Kat DeLuna
. She is currently signed to Universal Motown, after previously being signed to Epic. She is noted for her Soprano vocal range [2] and has won one Latin Billboard Music Award for her debut single "Whine Up".
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KAT DELUNA TICKETS
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Career
Early life
DeLuna was born in
the Bronx and raised in the Dominican Republic. As a child, DeLuna spent her time listening to
Aretha Franklin and became interested in becoming a singer. At the age of 12, DeLuna was invited by
Milly Quezada to sing with her on stage. In her freshman year of high school at Arts High School in Newark, NJ (The Nations First Arts High School in the country for the Visual and Performing Arts), she responded to an audition in
The Village Voice and was accepted into an all-Latina, Hip Hop/R&B group called Coquette. In April 2004, she opened for
J Records musician
Cassidy as part of Coquette. DeLuna continued to pursue her dream of becoming a solo artist and at 15, she entered a Coca-Cola sponsored karaoke competition and she won it. After the competition, Cuban
salsa singer
Rey Ruiz advised DeLuna to start writing her own music.
[3] DeLuna signed a contract with the production label, Global Music Brand (GMB)founded by Tyrone Edmond. According to a brief interview she granted on HaitiXchange.com, she stated that she met Tyrone when she was 14, who was then scouting for talent.
2007-2008: 9 Lives
DeLuna was finally picked up by Epic Records and she was under both labels. She is managed by Capetown management. Capetown management is run by Damon Degraff and Greg Maurice. Her debut album,
9 Lives
, produced by hitmaker
RedOne, and written by songwriter Jane't Sewell-Ulepic and Kat Deluna herself, was released on
7 August 2007. Its peak position on the Billboard Top 200 Albums was #58 on
25 August 2007.
[4] It was also the theme for WWE Summer Slam in the same year. It helped obtain a huge success over seas for Kat Deluna by breaking out of France holding position #1 in the airwaves for consecutive weeks and to add to her success with the single. At The
Latin Billboard Music Awards 2008, DeLuna won the award in the 'Latin Dance Club Play Track Of The Year' category for her hit single "
Whine Up"
[5]
In September 2008 Deluna performed the US National Anthem at the Texas Stadium during the Monday Night Football game between the Cowboys and the Eagles. The performance garnered media attention because the crowd booed her during the performance.
[6] [7] Time later labeled the performance the 8th worst National Anthem rendition.
[8]
2009–present: Inside Out
DeLuna premiered a new song called "Calling You", specifying that it was only an exclusive single and not a single from her second album. She premiered the song on her
MySpace page and her
website. Dawn Richard, ex-Danity Kane member, has confirmed to be writing for Kat DeLuna's upcoming album. DeLuna filmed the video for her third worldwide single "In The End," which was only released in Europe. The video for the single premiered on YouTube in January 2009, along with the unreleased video for "Am I Dreaming?".
In 2009, her single "
Unstoppable" featuring
Lil' Wayne (featured on the soundtrack of the 2009 film
Confessions of a Shopaholic starring
Isla Fisher) was released. She released a video, and set out on a "Gay Club" tour in February 2009 in the United States.
[9] Currently she released a new single entitled "
Dance Bailalo", labelled "the single of the summer of 2009" by the popular pop culture blogger Perez Hilton. She is currently recording tracks for her 2-disc English/Spanish album,
Inside Out
. In June 2009, Kat DeLuna performed at a New York City high school prom, as the star of My Prom Style's official website feature: "Ultimate Prom" fashion reality series. Three aspiring teen designers are competing to design the dress she wears to prom, and the pattern of the winning dress will be produced and sold nationwide by Simplicity Patterns.
[10]
Discography
- 9 Lives
(2007)
- Inside Out
(2009)
Awards
- Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2007
- *MTV Tr3´s Viewer's Choice Award — Best New Artist
- TMF Awards (Belgium)
- *Best Urban
- *Best New Artist
- 2008 Latin Billboard Music Awards
- *Latin Dance Club Play Track Of The Year
- Casandra Award
- *New International Artist
DeLuna became the top R&B singer.
Nominations
- ALMA Music Awards 2009
- *Female Rising Star
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
References
- Johnson, Gregory. "Vixen: Sweet Thing" VIBE, October 2007
- Opera-trained Kat DeLuna claims her pop music crown
- Kat's Biography
- Discography - Kat DeLuna
- 2008 Billboard Latin Music Awards Winners
- NFL fans boo Kat DeLuna's National Anthem Performance
- Kat Deluna booed after singing the national anthem
- Top 10 Worst National-Anthem Renditions
- Kat DeLuna to Embark on a Gay Club Concert Tour
- Title Unavailable