Aundrea Aurora Fimbres (born June 29, 1983) is a retired American singer. She was a member of the pop music group

Danity Kane Danity Kane was an American girl group whose original and most well-known lineup comprised Aubrey O'Day, Aundrea Fimbres, Dawn Richard, Shannon Bex, and Wanita "D. Woods" Woodgett. Its most recent iteration included O'Day and Richard as a duo ...

. She is a

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

and was known for her

melisma Melisma ( grc-gre, μέλισμα, , ; from grc, , melos, song, melody, label=none, plural: ''melismata'') is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is refer ...

tic vocal runs, and falsetto registered harmonies and also for having the highest vocal range of her fellow band members.Stated on air: ''

Making the Band ''Making the Band'' is an ABC/MTV reality television series that exists in separate iterations, each focusing on a specific music act. It spawned musical acts O-Town, Da Band, Danity Kane, Day26, and Donnie Klang. Except for the first iteration o ...

3'', Season 2.

Early life

Fimbres was born in

Upland, California Upland is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States on the border with neighboring Los Angeles County. The municipality is located at an elevation of 1,242 feet (379 m). As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 79,040 ...

, to Mexican-American parents. The youngest child in her family, Fimbres first attended Claremont High School then transferred to

Upland High School Upland High School is a four-year public high school located in the city of Upland, California. The school was established in 1955 as part of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District, and since 1988 it has been a member of the Upland Unifie ...

. Fimbres was singing from an early age. During her high school years she was a member of a pop ensemble, Intrigue. Before Fimbres auditioned for ''

3'' she was three semesters short of completing a degree in education, with the intention of becoming a kindergarten teacher — a back-up plan to singing that she had promised her parents she would have.

Career

2004–2005: ''Making the Band''

In 2004, Fimbres auditioned in Los Angeles for the first season of ''Making the Band 3'' – the same audition as fellow band member

Aubrey O'Day Aubrey Morgan O'Day (born February 11, 1984) is an American singer and reality television personality, best known for being a member of the girl group Danity Kane. Following discord among Danity Kane and with her mentor at the time, P. Diddy, O' ...

. They met at the audition, which subsequently led to their friendship.''

''/''The Rise and Fall of Danity Kane'', ''

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

'' (April 30, 2009). Retrieved on April 30, 2009. At the final audition, not only was Fimbres successful but she was the first contestant to make it into the house. Fimbres was one of the "standouts" during the competition. She excelled in dancing and her vocals set her apart from the other contestants. She experienced significant personal struggles while competing, which helped to further endear her to the audience. Their "den mother" Jason was viewed as rude to the women in the house. In one episode, Jason criticized Fimbres for not having a well-toned abdomen. Despite this, Fimbres continued to display good vocal and dance performances. During the first-season finale of ''Making the Band 3'',

Sean Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

decided against forming a group, but chose Fimbres as one of the contestants from the first season, along with O'Day, to participate in the second season. During the second season, Fimbres' dance performance declined. Her vocals remained favorable to judges and fellow contestants, but her dancing ability was in question. Fimbres later improved the quality of her dancing. On the season finale of the series, she was picked to be in the group, which soon became known as

2005–2009: Danity Kane

Danity Kane's first studio album, ''

'' was released in 2006 and achieved success in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, shipping a million copies domestically,. Two singles from the album were top 10 hits, " Show Stopper", and the ballad, "

Ride for You "Ride for You" is a song by American girl group Danity Kane. It was written by Bryan Michael Cox, Kendrick "Wyldcard" Dean, and Adonis Shropshire for the group's debut album ''Danity Kane'' (2006), while production was helmed by Cox along with co ...

". Their second studio album, ''

Welcome to the Dollhouse ''Welcome to the Dollhouse'' is a 1995 American coming-of-age black comedy film written and directed by Todd Solondz. An independent film, it won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival and launched the careers of Solondz and He ...

'', was released on March 18, 2008, following the release of their second top 10 hit single " Damaged". The band became the first female group in ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' history to have their first two albums open at the top of the charts. The season finale of ''Making the Band'' October 14, 2008, confirmed the departure of O'Day and

D. Woods Wanita Denise Woodgett (born July 6, 1985), better known as by her nickname D. Woods, is an American singer, dancer, and actress. Woods is the founder and CEO of Woodgrane Entertainment, but best known for her efforts on MTV's "Making The Band 3 ...

. With bandmate

Shannon Bex Shannon Rae Bex (born March 22, 1980) is an American singer, reality show personality, professional dancer, and co-founder of Vooks. the world's first streaming platform for children's storybooks. She was also a member of girl group Danity Kan ...

deciding not to continue within the group and declining to return to film the show's 2009 season, Fimbres and

Dawn Richard Dawn Angeliqué Richard (born August 5, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter. She started her career after auditioning for ''Making the Band 3'' in 2004. During this time, Richard became a member of girl band Danity Kane, from 2005 to 2009, a ...

were the only two returning members for the group and the series. The group's break up was confirmed in January 2009. However, they were shown on air as being completely over in April 2009, where Fimbres was "officially" released from her

Bad Boy Records Bad Boy Records (or Bad Boy Entertainment) is an American record label founded in 1993 by rapper Sean "Puffy" Combs. It operates as an imprint of Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. It has been home to many artists, including ...

contract by Combs in the April 16, 2009, episode of the series.''

'',

(April 16, 2009). Retrieved on April 16, 2009. Fimbres had initially formed a strong connection with O'Day while competing to be in the band. The two made it through two seasons together, and gained a large and loyal fanbase before Combs chose them to be in the group. Viewers named the two "the AUs" and "Aubrea" (

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words''

'', ''

'' (October 7, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-10-07.

2010–2012: Solo and Soto band

In June 2010, an original Fimbres song was leaked on the Internet titled "Brush You Off". Later, this song was revealed to be a demo that Fimbres had made in 2006. In August 2010, with former Danity Kane bandmate, Aubrey O'Day, she revealed via

Ustream IBM Watson Media (formerly Ustream and IBM Cloud Video) is an American virtual events platform company which is a division of IBM. Prior to IBM acquisition, it had more than 180 employees across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Budapest offices. ...

that both had recorded a track titled "Ego Trip" to be included on Aubrey O'Day's solo album, but was later taken off the album before it was released. They also answered some fan questions about the band's split. In 2010, Fimbres began performing and touring with Soto, a Latin/funk/R&B band from

Norwalk, California Norwalk is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 105,549 at the 2010 census and an estimated 103,949 in 2019. It is the 58th most densely-populated city in California. Founded in the late 19th century, Nor ...

. In 2012, Fimbres was named executive producer of J-Live ''Entertainment's Next Big Thing Talent Show''.

2013–2014: ''Danity Kane Reunion''

In mid-2013, there were rumors that Danity Kane would be reuniting. On August 25, 2013,

appeared at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards (without D. Woods, who did not return to the group), announcing they were back together. On May 15, 2014, the band's first official reunion single "Lemonade" was released on the internet vi
Official Danity Kane Soundcloud
The single was produced by

The Stereotypes The Stereotypes are a production team created in 2003, comprising Jonathan Yip, Ray Romulus, Jeremy Reeves and Ray Charles McCullough II. In June 2010, they were listed among the "Top 10 Songwriters and Producers to Watch" in '' Billboard'' magaz ...

, and features rapper

Tyga Michael Ray Nguyen-StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson ...

over a production sampled from Grindin', the 2002 hit song by Clipse On May 16, 2014, on the first night of thei
#NOFilterTour
at

The Fillmore The Fillmore is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California. Built in 1912 and originally named the Majestic Hall, it became the Fillmore Auditorium in 1954. It is in Western Addition, on the edge of the Fillmore District and Upper Fil ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

after performing several songs with Danity Kane, Fimbres announced that she would be leaving the group at the end of their tour, and

, and

would be continuing on as a trio.

Guest appearances

Fimbres' sings in a song called "Dip With You" on

Baby Bash Ronald Ray Bryant (born October 18, 1969), better known by his stage name Baby Bash (formerly Baby Beesh), is an American rapper. From 1995 until 1998, as part of Dope House Records, after which he changed the last part of his stage name to "Bas ...

's album, ''

Cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

''.Britney Spears Single Is Released; Plus Eve, 50 Cent, Owen Wilson, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West & More, In For The Record

: August 30, 2007. She also appeared as Dorothy in ''Oz: The Musical'', alongside Nathaniel Flatt of V-Factory, from December 4–13, 2009. On December 30, 2010, a snippet of the O'Day and Fimbres' collaboration, "Ego Trip", was leaked on the Internet, but the track was never finished. On March 11, 2011, Fimbres made an appearance on O'Day's reality show, ''

All About Aubrey ''All About Aubrey'' is a reality television series from Oxygen (TV channel), Oxygen that premiered on March 7, 2011. The show follows pop star Aubrey O'Day as she mounts a solo comeback after being fired from multi-platinum girl group Danity Kane ...

'', where they recorded a song titled "Ego Trip" for O'Day's solo album to be released in 2011, although their single was never released. In the episode, according to O'Day, Fimbres drops out of a show she would do with O'Day, telling O'Day that she did not want to be in the business anymore. In 2015, Fimbres appeared on her former band member

's third studio album ''

Blackheart Blackheart is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an adversary to the superhero Ghost Rider. Created by writer Ann Nocenti and artist John Romita Jr., Blackhe ...

'' on a song entitled "Phoenix". The record was previously written and recorded for their then-upcoming album ''DK3'' but soon after completion Danity Kane reportedly passed on the song. Richard has stated that she was about to sell the record to another artist when Aundrea convinced Richard to not only keep the record for her album Blackheart but also keep Fimbres' verse on the song because they had both always loved the song from the beginning.

Discography

;Danity Kane albums * ''

'' (2006) * ''

'' (2008)

References

External links

Aundrea Fimbres on InstagramAundrea Fimbres on TwitterAundrea Fimbres on Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fimbres, Aurora 1983 births Living people American musicians of Mexican descent American women pop singers American sopranos Danity Kane members Hispanic and Latino American musicians Singers from California Participants in American reality television series People from Upland, California Singing talent show winners 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers Hispanic and Latino American women singers