Martha Alicia Villarreal Esparza (born August 31, 1971), known simply and professionally as Alicia Villarreal, is a Mexican singer-songwriter. Villarreal participated in different bands in Monterrey, before becoming the lead singer for Grupo Límite in 1995. After nearly eight years of success, Villarreal left the band pursuing a solo career. Villarreal released her first solo album, entitled ''Soy Lo Prohibido'', in 2001. Villarreal's work has garnered a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nomination and two

Latin Grammy Awards The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been ...

, one from her time with Grupo Límite and one as a solo artist.

Biography

Villarreal first performed the song ''Mundo De Juguetes'' at '' Pipo'', a local TV show her parents took her to. Her first professional performance was at a church fundraiser. In 1995, Grupo Límite, with her as lead singer, started touring with the more famous Grupo Bronco. Among their songs were "''Acariciame''", "''Te Aprovechas''" and "''Solo Contigo''". Grupo Limite released six albums altogether, including a live CD recorded in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. In 2001, Villarreal released her first solo album in the ''

ranchera Ranchera () or canción ranchera is a genre of traditional music of Mexico. It dates to before the years of the Mexican Revolution. Rancheras today are played in virtually all regional Mexican music styles. Drawing on rural traditional folk musi ...

'' style titled ''Soy Lo Prohibido'', which featured the hit single ''Te Quedo Grande la Yegua''. After the success of the album, Villarreal stated she felt conflicted on how to proceed with her career due to changing genres. In 2004, after parting ways with her bandmates, she released her second solo album entitled ''Cuando el Corazón se Cruza''. The album was produced by her current husband, Cruz Martínez, and they wrote several of the songs together. The album has garnered her several awards in 2006, Villarreal performed for the highly televised ''Selena Vive'', where she performed ''Si Una Vez''. She later released this song along with 2 other new songs ''Punalada Trapera'' and ''Ya No Hay Amor'' on a dual disc of the album ''Cuando El Corazón Se Cruza''. The dual disc also contained 5 remixes to her previous songs and a collection of all her music videos. The dual disc was released in Mexico in 2005. In 2006, she released her third solo album titled ''Orgullo De Mujer'' with the lead single ''Insensible a Ti''. The single was the theme song for the telenovela ''

Duelo de Pasiones ''Duelo de Pasiones'' (English: ''Duel of Passions'') is a Mexican telenovela produced by Juan Osorio for Televisa. The telenovela based on radionovela ''Flor del Campo''. It premiered on April 17, 2006 and ended on October 27, 2006. Erika Bue ...

'', on which she made her acting debut, in the role of Raquel. ''Orgullo de Mujer'' garnered a

nomination for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album. After nearly a four-year hiatus, Villarreal announced she was in the studio recording her 4th solo album. The entitled ''La Jefa'' was released June 23, 2009, with "Caso Perdido," as lead single. The album debuted at number one on ''Billboard''s Regional Mexican Albums and overall at number four on its Latin Albums chart. ''La Jefa'' received mixed reviews upon its release. Nearly eight years from taking time to raise her children, Villarreal released her fifth studio album, ''La Villarreal'' on September 8, 2017.

Personal life

Alicia Villarreal married her first husband, record producer Ezequiel Cuevas in 1991; they divorced in 1993. She married Arturo Carmona on December 16, 1998. They had a daughter, Melenie Carmona Villarreal, on April 10, 1999. They divorced in 2001. She is married to

Cruz Martínez Cruz Martínez (born June 21, 1972) is an American record producer and musician. He is a former member of the Tejano music, Tejano band La Sombra. In 1999, he joined the cumbia music group Los Kumbia Kings, created by A.B. Quintanilla. In 2007, ...

, owner/producer of

Los Super Reyes Los Super Reyes are an American musical group from Corpus Christi, Texas who play Mexican cumbia. The group was created by Cruz Martínez after he and A.B. Quintanilla had arguments over Martínez selling the group they were both in at the time, ...

, on August 31, 2003. They have two sons, Cruz Angelo Martinez (born December 19, 2005) and Felix Estefano Martinez (born February 12, 2007). On October 10, 2009, her brother José Víctor Villarreal Esparza, who was 36 years old, died in a car accident in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico.

Discography

Studio albums

References

External links

Official MySpace

Official Facebook

Official YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villarreal, Alicia 1971 births Cruz Martínez Mexican women singers Latin Grammy Award winners Living people Mexican women singer-songwriters Mexican singer-songwriters Singers from Monterrey Latin music songwriters Women in Latin music