Marc Anthony

Marco Antonio Muñiz, known professionally as Marc Anthony, was born on September 16, 1968, in New York City to Puerto Rican parents. His father, Felipe Muñiz, worked as a hospital cafeteria worker and also performed as a professional guitarist, while his mother, Guillermina Quiñones, was a housewife. The youngest of eight children, Anthony grew up in East Harlem and was raised Catholic. His parents named him after Mexican singer Marco Antonio Muñiz. Musical training began at home under his father's guidance, where Anthony learned to sing in both Spanish and English. Among the artists who shaped his early listening were José Feliciano, Air Supply, Héctor Lavoe, Willie Colón, Rubén Blades, and Tito Puente, whom Anthony has cited as a particularly significant personal and professional influence.

Anthony launched his professional career as a session vocalist for freestyle music and underground New York house music acts. He changed his name to avoid confusion with his namesake and went on to work as a songwriter and backing vocalist for pop acts including Menudo and the Latin Rascals. His first album, Rebel, a freestyle record, was released in 1988 on Bluedog Records. That same year he wrote and produced the song Boy I've Been Told for freestyle artist Sa-Fire. In 1989 he contributed backup vocals to Ann-Marie's freestyle club hit With or Without You, produced by Little Louie Vega and Todd Terry. Collaborations with Vega continued into the early 1990s, including the freestyle classics Ride on the Rhythm and Time. In 1992, Vega and Anthony opened for Tito Puente at Madison Square Garden in New York.

After 1992, Anthony shifted from freestyle to salsa and other Latin styles. He had initially declined an offer from Ralph Mercado, president of RMM Records, to record a salsa album, but changed his mind after hearing Juan Gabriel's Hasta Que Te Conocí while riding in a taxi. His Spanish-language debut, Otra Nota, followed in 1993, drawing inspiration from Tito Puente, Héctor Lavoe, Rubén Blades, and Juan Gabriel. Touring throughout the Americas, including an opening slot for Blades, established him as a rising star in the genre. By the early 1990s he had sold more salsa records than any other performer. His 1995 follow-up, Todo a Su Tiempo, earned a Billboard Award for Hot Tropical Artist of the Year and was certified gold in both the United States and Puerto Rico. The subsequent album Contra La Corriente produced Y Hubo Alguien, his first number-one single on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks and the first number-one by a salsa musician on that chart. Otra Nota, Todo a Su Tiempo, and Contra La Corriente collectively established Anthony as the top-selling singer in the history of the salsa genre.

In 1998, Anthony made his Broadway debut in The Capeman, bringing his New York roots to the stage. That same year he recorded the duet I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You with Tina Arena for the soundtrack of The Mask of Zorro, written by James Horner. He also contributed the duet No Me Ames with Jennifer Lopez for her album On the 6. In 1999, Anthony released a self-titled English-language album featuring the US Top 5 single I Need to Know, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The album debuted at number eight on the Billboard chart and was eventually certified triple platinum. His song You Sang to Me was featured in the film Runaway Bride. In 2000, the television special Marc Anthony: The Concert from Madison Square Garden aired on HBO on Valentine's Day and received a TV Guide nomination for Music Special of the Year.

Anthony continued releasing both English and Spanish-language albums throughout the 2000s. His 2001 salsa album Libre was certified gold and spent fourteen weeks at number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. In 2004 he released the Latin pop album Amar Sin Mentiras alongside a salsa companion album, Valio La Pena, which included the Jennifer Lopez duet Escapémonos. At the 2005 Latin Grammy Awards, Amar Sin Mentiras won Best Latin Pop Album of the Year and Valio La Pena won Best Tropical Album of the Year. Lopez and Anthony performed Escapémonos at the 2005 Grammy Awards. In 2006 he released Sigo Siendo Yo, a Spanish greatest-hits collection, and in 2010 he released Iconos, a tribute to Latin songs by artists including José Luis Perales, Juan Gabriel, and José José. Anthony was inducted into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2012.

Among the most decorated artists in Latin music, Anthony holds four Grammy Awards, eight Latin Grammy Awards, and twenty-nine Lo Nuestro Awards, the most of any male artist. He holds the Guinness World Record for best-selling tropical and salsa artist and for the most number-one albums on the Billboard Tropical Albums year-end charts. He also holds the record for the most number-one songs on the Billboard Latin Tropical Airplay chart, with thirty-two. As of 2014, he had sold more than twelve million albums worldwide. In 2009, he received both the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Lifetime Achievement Award and the CHCI Chair's Lifetime Achievement Award.