Angela Vía is an American singer/songwriter from
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Initially marketed as a
popPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
artist, Angela's catalog contains music of a variety of genres in both English and Spanish. While she was scheduled to release an album in 2009, it is currently unknown when her next work will be released as she is shopping for a record label.
Childhood and beginnings
Vía was born in
Raymondville, TexasRaymondville is a city in and the county seat of Willacy County, Texas, United States. The population was 9,733 at the 2000 census. It may be included as part of the Brownsville–Harlingen–Raymondville and the Matamoros–Brownsville metropolitan areas....
, to Tom Trullinger, of European-American and
Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
ancestry, and Annie Villarreal, of Mexican and
SpanishThe Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
ancestry. During her early childhood, she grew close to her Mexican/American heritage, and often listened to the local
TejanoTejano or Texano is a term used to identify a Texan of Mexican heritage.Historically, the Spanish term Tejano has been used to identify different groups of people...
music. Every day, Vía would lock herself in her room or take her boom box to the porch and practice singing for hours. She wrote her first song at the age of three.
At the age of nine, Vía and her family moved to
Gresham, Oregon- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 90,205 people, 33,327 households, and 22,695 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,071.6 people per square mile . There were 35,309 housing units at an average density of 1,593.8 per square mile...
, a suburb of the most populous city in the state,
Portland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. It was here that she began singing in her school and church choirs, as well as discovering some of her favorite artists,
BeBe & CeCe WinansBeBe & CeCe Winans are an American Gospel music brother and sister duo. BeBe and CeCe Winans are the seventh and eighth of "Mom" and "Pop" Winans' ten children, most of whom have had successful Gospel music careers.-Musical career:...
and
Kirk FranklinKirk Dwayne Franklin is an American Gospel music musician, choir director, and author, and is most notably known for leading urban contemporary gospel choirs such as The Family, God's Property and One Nation Crew .- Early years :...
. This was when she began to gain a deeper connection to R&B and
soul musicSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
. In 1996, Angela's father took her to a studio to record some of her favorite songs at the time. Among these songs were
Mariah CareyMariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
's "Hero" and Selena Quintanilla's "Amor Prohibido." In 1997 her version of
Whitney HoustonWhitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
's "You Were Loved" appeared on a regional fund raising album. This led to performances at cultural and charity events throughout the city. In 1998 she won a talent show sponsored by a Portland radio station and was flown to Los Angeles to perform at the
Planet HollywoodPlanet Hollywood, a restaurant inspired by the popular portrayal of Hollywood, was launched in New York on October 22, 1991, with the backing of Hollywood stars Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.-History:...
party for the movie
The Wedding SingerThe Wedding Singer is a 1998 romantic comedy film written by Tim Herlihy and directed by Frank Coraci. It stars Adam Sandler as a wedding singer in the 1980s and Drew Barrymore as a waitress with whom he falls in love....
.
1999–2002: Lava/Atlantic Records
In 1999, Vía signed a seven-album deal with
LavaLava Records is an American based record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated through Universal Republic Records.-Company history:...
/
Atlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
thanks to her co-self-penned demo track, "Picture Perfect", which Angela wrote in part by gathering poems that she had written down previously. It also showcases her ability to utilize the
whistle registerThe whistle register is the highest register of the human voice, lying above the modal register and falsetto register...
. The first release on Lava was "Catch Me If You Can", on the
Pokémon: The First Movie soundtrackPokémon: The First Movie is the soundtrack to the first Pokémon movie in America. Some of the songs were featured in the animated short Pikachu's Vacation, and some songs did not feature in either the short or the movie at all. The CD contains extra features, such as Pokémon videos and a screensaver...
.
A year later, Vía made the promotional rounds for the release of her debut single and album. Her first single, "Picture Perfect", hit airwaves in March and was the most-added single to Top 40 Mainstream radio in its first week. It went on to sell more than 110,000 copies in the U.S..
SmallvilleSmallville is an American television series developed by writers/producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar based on the DC Comics character Superman, originally created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The television series was initially broadcast by The WB Television Network , premiering on October...
star
Tom WellingThomas John Patrick "Tom" Welling is an American actor, director, producer, and former model, best known for his portrayal of Clark Kent in the WB/CW series Smallville....
played Angela's love interest in the
music videoA music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, which received heavy videoplay on both
MTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and The Box. A Spanish version, "Retrato Perfecto", also hit Spanish airwaves in the U.S. and a commercial single for "Picture Perfect" was released in Australia in May.
Vía's second single, "I Don’t Care", received moderate airplay and sold a respectable amount, but its success was not strong enough to launch her debut album, Angela Via. Originally scheduled for release on June 6, 2000, the album was shelved indefinitely. In 2004 the album was finally released as a digital download through
RealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
's music store. "I Don’t Care" was remade in 2001 by Australian pop singer
Delta GoodremDelta Lea Goodrem is an Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress. Signed to Sony at the age of 15, Goodrem rose to prominence in 2002, starring in the Australian soap opera Neighbours as Nina Tucker. Goodrem has achieved eight number-one singles and three number-one albums in her home...
and achieved moderate success in Australia.
In the same year, Vía appeared on the soap opera
The Bold and the BeautifulThe Bold and the Beautiful is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS Daytime. It premiered on March 23, 1987....
, as well as
Nickelodeon'sNickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
Snick House and
The Rosie O'Donnell ShowThe Rosie O'Donnell Show is an Emmy Award-winning American daytime television talk show hosted and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell. It aired for six seasons from 1996 to 2002...
. Her role on
The Bold and the Beautiful would be her only major part until 2004's
Pastor GregPastor Greg is a Christian sitcom, the first Christian television show of this genre. It debuted in 2005, and it is now in its third and final season...
. In 2001,
Atlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
readied the release of an updated version of Vía's unreleased debut album. A new music video, scheduled to be filmed in August and directed by N’Sync members
Lance BassJames Lance Bass , best known as Lance Bass, is an American pop singer, dancer, actor, film and television producer, and author. He grew up in Mississippi and rose to fame as the bass singer for the American pop boy band 'N Sync. 'N Sync's success led Bass to work in film and television...
and
Joey FatoneJoseph Anthony "Joey" Fatone, Jr. is an American singer, dancer, actor and television personality. He is best known as a member of the boyband, 'N Sync, in which he sang baritone. In 2007, he came in second place on the ABC reality show Dancing with the Stars...
, almost became a reality, before Atlantic Records put a last minute halt to it due to Vía's rejection of a deal she felt was demoralizing to her image in the music industry.
At the start of 2002, she recorded a
Six FlagsSix Flags Entertainment Corp. is the world's largest amusement park corporation based on quantity of properties and the fifth most popular in terms of attendance. The company maintains 14 properties located throughout North America, including theme parks, thrill parks, water parks and family...
commercialA television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
in which she performed "Papi Chulo". It received heavy play in her home state, as well as in other states for which the commercial was later edited. Nonetheless, despite the success of Vía's commercial, she found herself among the long list of Atlantic artists dropped from the roster later in the year.
2003–2007
In 2003, two artists released remakes of Vía's recordings.
ChineseChinese culture is one of the world's oldest and most complex. The area in which the culture is dominant covers a large geographical region in eastern Asia with customs and traditions varying greatly between towns, cities and provinces...
girl duo T-Rush recorded and released a Chinese remake of Angela's "Girl Playa No. 1".
SalsaSalsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
artist
Kevin CeballoKevin Ceballo is a singer of Salsa music of Puerto Rican descent.-Early years:Ceballo's parents immigrated from Puerto Rico and settled in Manhattan where Ceballo was born. His parents are Seventh-Day Adventists. Ceballo was exposed to and enjoyed the gospel singing at his House of Worship...
recorded and released a salsa interpretation of Vía's duet with
Frankie NegrónFrankie Negrón is a singer of Salsa music of Puerto Rican descent...
, "Eternamente Te Amaré". Via spent the next two years writing songs for her
Sony/ATV Music PublishingSony/ATV Music Publishing is a music publishing company co-owned by The Michael Jackson Family Trust and Sony. The organisation was originally founded as Associated TeleVision in 1955 by Lew Grade. In 1957, ATV acquired Pye Records as a wholly owned subsidiary...
affiliate, Gruvia Productions, while she shopped for a record deal.
In early 2006, Vía went to Los Angeles for 3 weeks to write with an old friend and producer, and in only 2 weeks of shopping for a deal, she was involved in massive interest from many major record labels. In April 2006 she signed with
Virgin RecordsVirgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
. In May, a new recording titled "Speakin' Spanish" premiered on her official
MySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
. In July, she opened
RBDRBD was a two-time Latin-Grammy nominated Mexican pop group that gained popularity from Televisa's teen drama series Rebelde. RBD sold over 17 million digital downloads and over 20 million albums worldwide in four years since their formation, according to EMI...
concerts in Miami and New York City. On September 26, 2006, "Speakin' Spanish" was released as a promotional single. Later, in December, "Baila Baila (Don't Let This Party End)" was released as a promotional single and received moderate airplay. It also made the No. 8 position on
Clear ChannelA clear-channel station is an AM band Radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. Usually known as class A stations since 1982, they are occasionally still referred to by their former...
's new artist chart.
In February 2007, Vía started posting video messages through her
Angela TVia channel on
YouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. In April 2007, Vía posted an in-studio video which featured a new song called "Wrong for You", which was co-written with
soul artistSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
Robin ThickeRobin Charles Thicke is an Award-winning American R&B singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and actor. Thicke's albums, which he previously released under the moniker Thicke, are noted for their feature of a predominantly R&B sound. Robin Thicke has penned hits for popular artists such as...
. She also revealed a new track on her MySpace page, called "What I Like".
In May 2007, Via was featured in rapper Hunter Brown's song called "The One".
In June 2007, Via changed the title of her upcoming album from
Ready to Fly to
Supergirl according to her Official
MySpace, her description of the album was
In July 2007, Via wrote about her work on three remixes: one with
reggaeReggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
singer
Sean KingstonSean Kingston is a Jamaican-American singer. He pursued a music career and debuted in 2007 with the album Sean Kingston.-Early life:...
on his song "
Beautiful Girls"Beautiful Girls" is a song by reggae-influenced musician Sean Kingston from his eponymous debut. The song samples Ben E. King's classic "Stand by Me" and uses digital pitch correction technology on the vocals. The song is about a boy who is suicidal over the failure of his relationship with a...
", and two with
FabolousJohn David Jackson , better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper of African American and Dominican descent. He grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Part of his early popularity arose from his hit single "Can't Deny It" in 2001, from his debut...
— one for "Make Me Better" and another for "Supergirl."
On December 25, 2007, Via released "Running Away" via her MySpace page as a
ChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
gift to her fans.
Departure from Virgin Records
In January 2008, Via parted ways with
Virgin RecordsVirgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
due to unknown reasons.
2008-2010
On Wednesday March 26, 2008, Via released a new song called "Bombshell Panties". According to Via, this song was written by her to American
PopPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and R&B
quintetA quintet is a group containing five members.It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single unit....
The Pussycat Dolls. It might appear on their second album to be released later this year in August. The song did not made the cut for the girls' album.
On June 25, 2008, her 2006 unreleased single
"Baila Baila" was performed as a
SambaSamba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
in the Fox TV program
So You Think You Can Dance?So You Think You Can Dance is an American dance competition and reality show that airs on Fox in the United States.The series first premiered on July 20, 2005, and was created by American Idol producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe and is produced by 19 Entertainment and Dick Clark Productions...
by contestants Katee Shean and
Joshua AllenJoshua Allen is the winner of the fourth season of So You Think You Can Dance. He had originally auditioned in Dallas, Texas with his friend and fellow contestant, Comfort Fedoke. Allen was announced winner of the show on August 7, 2008, winning $250,000.-Early life:Allen was born in Fort Worth,...
, followed by dancing judge and choreographers Mary Murphy and Dmitry Chaplin in the finale.
Angela's version of "Baila Baila" was also featured On
Dancing With The StarsDancing with the Stars is the name of several international television series based on the format of the British TV series Strictly Come Dancing, which is distributed by BBC Worldwide – the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the format has been licensed to over 35 countries...
during
Julianne HoughJulianne Alexandra Hough is an American professional ballroom dancer, country music singer and actress. She is most widely known for being a two-time champion of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. She earned a Creative Arts Primetime Emmy nomination in 2007 for choreography...
&
Chuck WicksCharles Elliott "Chuck" Wicks is an American country music artist. He was one of the participants on the American reality series Nashville, which aired on Fox Networks for two episodes before its cancellation in mid-2007...
Samba dance in week 7.
Singles
- "Picture Perfect
"Picture Perfect" is a song performed by American singer/songwriter Angela Via and written by Angela Via, Berny Cosgrove, and Kevin Clark.-About the record:...
" (2000) (also released in Spanish as "Retrato Perfecto")
- "I Don't Care" (2000)
- "Speakin' Spanish" (2006)
- "Baila Baila (Don't Let This Party End)" (2006)
Compilation albums
- Pokémon: The First Movie
Pokémon: The First Movie is the soundtrack to the first Pokémon movie in America. Some of the songs were featured in the animated short Pikachu's Vacation, and some songs did not feature in either the short or the movie at all. The CD contains extra features, such as Pokémon videos and a screensaver...
("Catch Me If You Can") (1999)
- Pokémon 2000 ("Wonderland") (2000)
- The Little Vampire ("Best Friends") (2000)
- MTV: TRL Christmas
MTV: TRL Christmas is a Christmas compilation album. It was released 30 October 2001 on Atlantic Records. The album charted on #169 of the billboard 200 at week of December 15, 2001 .-Track listing:#"Santa Baby " by Willa Ford...
("Christmas Wish") (2001)
- Boat Trip
Boat Trip is a 2003 romantic comedy directed by Mort Nathan and starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., Horatio Sanz, Vivica A. Fox, Roselyn Sanchez and Roger Moore.- Plot :...
("Kissing You") (2003)
External links