Karina Pasian (born July 18, 1991) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist.

Life and career

Karina Pasian was born in New York City and is of mixed Dominican and

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

n descent. Her first language was Russian, and she can sing in six other languages, including English, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Turkish, and French. Growing up in a musical family, she first began taking piano lessons at the age of three from her babysitter, and began classical piano training while in kindergarten. She began working with a vocal coach at the age of eight, and attended the Professional Performing Arts School in New York City along with Taylor Momsen and

Mark Indelicato Mark Indelicato (born July 16, 1994) is an American actor, singer, fashion blogger, and photographer best known for his role in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC comedy series ''Ugly Betty'', as Justin Suarez, the fashion-obsessed nephew o ...

. In 2003, Pasian met

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

, who invited her and her family to his home in Bel Air, California. Soon after this, Pasian performed and won on '' Star Search''. She also performed at Quincy Jones' ''We Are The Future'' concert in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. On June 22, 2007, Pasian performed at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

for President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, in celebration of ''Black Music Month'', making her the first person of Dominican descent to perform there. Pasian became the subject of a bidding war, when she was 13, between three major record labels:

Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

, and

Bad Boy Records Bad Boy Entertainment, doing business as Bad Boy Records, is an American independent record label. The label was founded in 1993 by rapper and record producer Sean Combs. During the mid-1990s, the label signed hip-hop and contemporary R&B, R&B a ...

. She chose

in 2006. Her first album '' First Love'' was released on August 19, 2008.First Love: Karina
Accessed May 22, 2008. The first single was " 16 @ War" which received some moderate airplay on Urban radio and BET. The album's second single, "Can't Find the Words" was more successful, charting at #88 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles chart. Later that year, the album received a nomination for a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

Award in the category of "Best Contemporary R&B." Following her

nomination, she did some touring in addition to recording covers on her

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel. A digital single "Halo" (a cover of

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

's hit single) was released in 2009. Additionally, she recorded a cover of

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

's hit single "Brokenhearted" with R&B singer Sammie the following year. It was never released until 2011, that Pasian released new material, with an EP titled ''Trips to Venus EP, Vol. 1 – Holiday Edition'' on December 12. It was led by the single "Perfectly Different" in addition to a holiday single "

The Christmas Song "The Christmas Song" (commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or, as it was originally subtitled, "Merry Christmas to You") is a Christmas song written in 1945 by Robert Wells (songwriter), Robert Wells and Mel Tormé. The Nat K ...

" released that same month. In 2012, Pasian collaborated with Skye Townsend and Chris O'Bannon on the single "Go Fish" which resulted in a music video shot and directed by Robert Townsend in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The following year, she released the digital single "Fall In Love Again", which was to lead off her next EP ''Trips to Venus EP, Vol. 2'', which was slated for release but then pulled. A "Special Edition" of Vol. 1 was later released to iTunes and other digital services on April 29, 2014, which removed "

" and included an acoustic version of her song "Slow Motion", which appeared on her debut. Later that year, she released a digital single "Solitaire" independently. In 2015, she signed with Universal Music Classics and released the single/video "Love Right Next to You" which received dance remixes in 2016. It's the lead single off her forthcoming EP ''Parallel World''. In 2020, she released her album "Something Warm To Wear" In 2021 Pasian took part in the 8th season of the TV talent show La Voz, Spanish version of

The Voice (American TV series) ''The Voice'' is an American singing reality competition television series that premiered on NBC on April 26, 2011. Based on the original '' The Voice of Holland'' and part of ''The Voice'' franchise, it has aired 27 seasons and aims to find ...

. Her coach was

Alejandro Sanz Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro, better known as Alejandro Sanz (; born 18 December 1968), is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He has won 22 Latin Grammy Awards and four Grammy Awards. He has received the Latin Grammy for Latin Grammy Award ...

. Coincidentally, Pasian had worked as a singer in the Sanz's band during a number of tours. Karina Pasian was one of the four singers who performed in the final programme in December 2021, but not the winner. In 2023 Pasian got the Singing role of Princess Nefer in the Warner Bros. film " Mummies"

Filmography

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Other charted songs

References

External links

Official Twitter
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pasian, Karina 1991 births Def Jam Recordings artists American singers of Dominican Republic descent American people of Armenian descent Living people Rhythm and blues pianists American rhythm and blues singers American child singers Hispanic and Latino American women singers Singers from New York (state) Singers from New York City 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American women pianists 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American singers