Marc Anthony is one of the most influential performing artists of his time.
A New Yorker born and raised, the product of a music-loving Puerto Rican family, his parents named him Marco Antonio Muñíz in honor of the great Mexican balladeer of the same name. He began his recording career singing the English-language dance music known as freestyle, but he hit his stride between 1993 and 1997 with his first three salsa albums (Otra Nota, Todo a Su Tiempo, and Contra La Corriente). These productions established him as the top-selling singer in the history of the genre, able to sell out Madison Square Garden and prestigious venues internationally.
He is an ambassador of Latin music and culture at a global level. He was recognized by New York magazine as one of the Ten Most Influential New Yorkers, and was inaugurated into the Billboard Hall of Fame in 2012. Marc Anthony has sold over 12 million albums worldwide, receiving numerous gold and platinum certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) along the way. He was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute in Washington D.C. in September 2009. He has won a total of 24 Premio Lo Nuestro Latin Music awards, the most for any male artist. He has also been honored by ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) with the ASCAP Founders Award for his exceptional contributions to music worldwide. His list of GRAMMY® accolades begins with a 1998 GRAMMY® for Best Latin Tropical Performance for Contra La Corriente, followed by the first-ever Latin GRAMMY® Song of the Year award for “Dímelo”(I Need to Know) in 2000. With momentum from that hit single, Marc Anthony, his eponymous English-language album debut, went triple-platinum in the US, and helped usher in the Latin pop explosion of 1999-2000. In 2005 Marc Anthony was awarded double best-album Grammies — Best Latin Pop Album for Amar Sin Mentiras, and Best Salsa Album for Valió la Pena. In 2010 he released Iconos (Icons), an all-ballad Spanish-language album produced by Marc Anthony and Julio Reyes that included eight titles associated with his favorite balladeers — Juan Gabriel, José Luis Perales, José José, Roberto Carlos, and La Mafia, reworked in his uniquely personal style — and two original songs written by Julio Reyes and Marc Anthony. Iconos was #1 on the Top Selling and Airplay lists of Billboard Magazine for six consecutive weeks upon its release and achieved platinum status.
In 2013, Marc Anthony returned to the recording studio to work on his first project of original music in the tropical genre in nearly a decade. The project’s first single, “Vivir Mi Vida” (an adaptation of Algerian singer Khaled’s “C’est La Vie”), marked his reencounter with the producer of many of the greatest hits of his long career, Sergio George. Within hours of its release in April 2013, “Vivir Mi Vida,” produced by Marc Anthony and Sergio George, went to #1 on iTunes, Billboard, and radio on a national level, and continued to occupy that position for 18 consecutive weeks, making it the longest-running #1 salsa single of all time. The album, titled Marc Anthony 3.0, released July 23, 2013, has received (as of this writing) an American Music Award; a GRAMMY® Award nomination; five Premios Lo Nuestro; two Premios Juventud; ten Billboard Latin Music Awards; three Billboard Awards; and a special recognition from the Univisión television network. “Vivir Mi Vida” received the Latin GRAMMY® for Record of the Year.
Marc Anthony has also established a highly credible acting resumé: Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci’s Big Night (1996); Martin Scorsese’s Bringing Out the Dead (1999); opposite Selma Hayek in the Showtime original film, In the Time of the Butterflies (2001); and with Denzel Washington and Christopher Walken in Tony Scott’s Man On Fire (2004). He embodied Puerto Rican salsa legend Héctor Lavoe, opposite Jennifer López in the role of Puchi Lavoe, in the 2007 biopic El Cantante, directed by Oscar León Ichaso. On Broadway, he starred opposite Rubén Blades and Ednita Nazario in Paul Simon’s The Capeman (1998).
A passionate football fan, Marc Anthony became a minority owner of the Miami Dolphins in 2009. In 2011, he returned to television on the TNT series Hawthorne, toured the U.S., and launched his line of clothes and luxury accessories for Kohl’s. January 2012 brought the TV series ¡Q’ Viva! The Chosen produced by Marc Anthony, Jamie King and Jennifer López, which aired simultaneously on Spanish and English television in the US and Latin America. In January 2012 he announced the creation of his Foundation Maestro Cares with business partner Henry Cárdenas, intended to address the housing, academic and health challenges that orphaned children face each day in developing Latin American countries. The non-profit organization opened its first orphanage to house children in urgent need, “Niños de Cristo,” in La Romana, Dominican Republic on April 2, 2014, providing a home to more than 150 children. Marc Anthony is in constant demand for concerts and touring. “Gigant3S,” his US and Latin American tour with Marco Antonio Solis and Chayanne, topped 2012’s Billboard Hot Latin Tours charts. His world tour “Vivir Mi Vida” was included in PollStar’s top selling tours of 2013, it was extended to May 2014 by popular demand, and received a Premio Juventud for Super Tour of the Year.
At present, he’s preparing to embark on a new tour of the US and Latin America in August 2014. The tour takes its name from the second single from Marc Anthony 3.0: “Cambio de Piel” (Change of Skin). The song became his record setting twenty-fourth number one hit on the Billboard Tropical Airplay chart solidifying Marc Anthony as the artist with the most number one songs on that list. Marc Anthony was on Season 1 Episode 2 on Espectaculos y Celebridades hosted by Ruth Diaz.