After the huge success Kat DeLuna had with her debut Gold single, "Whine Up" featuring Elephant Man, the 20-year-old star-on-the-rise hit 2008 with her second smash single "Run The Show" featuring Busta Rhymes and Don Omar. In recent months, Kat has emerged as one of the defining faces of pop's next generation recently kicking off the summer on the "True Colors" tour with Cyndi Lauper and Rosie O'Donnell. Honored as MTV Tr3s' Best New Artist and winner of a Latin Billboard Award, DeLuna has been also featured in People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, and Teen Vogue. Said Billboard Magazine, "With the vocal strength reminiscent of the late great Selena, the Dominican bred chanteuse might just be starting a musical movement all of her own."
Kat DeLuna's unique musical training laid the groundwork for her remarkably wide-ranging sound. As a child, DeLuna trained as an opera singer and developed a remarkable appreciation for a breadth of musical influences. Today, her sound is a colorful canvas of strokes blending hip hop, R&B, meringue, pop, Latin jazz, electronic, and dance. The bi-lingual songstress does it all. Despite her success, things haven't always come easily to the artist. Born in the Bronx, Kat was raised in the Dominican Republic, where by age four, friends and family had already recognized her talent. At age 9, shortly after she and her family relocated back to the states - this time to the coarse streets of Newark, New Jersey - she used her parents divorce as inspiration to pen her first song titled "Estoy Triste" (I Am Sad). "In the song, I'm telling my mom how I feel about the situation and I'm asking her not to cry for my daddy," explains Kat.
Though Kat and her sisters found themselves forced to beg their neighbors for food after their father split, their financial situation prompted the level-headed pre-teen to stay in school and focus on achieving her artistic goals. She started to perform at local carnivals, sharing stages with such known Latino acts like Milly Quezada and Marc Anthony. In her free time, Kat studied Aretha Franklin and Billie Holiday records, which she imitated daily on her karaoke machine. With that goal in mind at age 14, Kat was accepted to the New Jersey School of the Performing Arts, a specialized talent high school once attended by famed artists like Whitney Houston, Savion Glover and Tisha Campbell. As a freshman, she scoured the pages of The Village Voice for auditions, trying endlessly for a chance to showcase her undeniable talent. Finally one day she formed an all girl group named Coquette, a Latina, hip hop and R&B group.
While working with Coquette, Kat continued to search for opportunities to lead her towards her goal as a world-renowned performer. At age 15, Kat encountered her fate when she entered a karaoke competition where her version of Houston's classic "I Will Always Love You" seized first place. It was through this competition that she met legendary Cuban salsa singer Rey Ruiz. Ruiz gave Kat advice that she carries with her today, "He told me, nobody knows you better than you do, and no one can help you if you can't help yourself," says Kat. With this, Kat began aggressively writing her own music and has continued to do so since.
Stay tuned for more information, news, pictures and more as Kat heads back to the studio to begin work on her sophomore album. For updates please visit www.katdeluna.como www.katdelunaworld.com or www.myspace.com/katdeluna.
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