Music of Puerto Rico - Artists: Carlos Ponce

Ponce, Carlos - Other/Pop

Carlos Ponce was born on September 4, 1972 in Santurce, Puerto Rico. Restless and hyperactive by nature, he demonstrated his passion for the arts at a very early age. His first television appearance was in a commercial in his native island at the age of six. After moving to Miami in 1986, Ponce began studying musical theater and exercising his learned skills on stage in several plays while he was still a student. During this time he won several awards and musical theater scholarships to some of the most prestigious universities in the U.S.

By the age of 18, Ponce had appeared in various commercials for Latin America and soon, landed a supporting role in the novela, "Guadalupe," playing the role of Willy. This debut opened doors for him to audiences in the U.S., Latin America and Europe. At the conclusion of the "novela," in 1994, Ponce became the host and Associate Producer of "Control," a weekly show broadcast by the Univision Television Network which earned Ponce two Emmy's for his work as both Producer and Host.

In 1996 Ponce had his first starring role, playing Renato in the nighttime drama, "Sentimientos Ajenos," which broke audience record levels in the U.S. and Mexico. He also sang one of the songs from the "novela" which appeared on the soundtrack.

The opportunity to debut as a singer finally presented itself in 1997 when Ponce signed with the recording label, EMI Latin. After one year of preparing and recording, Ponce presented his self-titled album, Carlos Ponce in 1998. With this new phase in his career as singer and songwriter, Ponce cemented his place in the competitive arena of Latin pop. Under the production and direction of Emilio Estefan, Jr., and backed up by EMI Latin, Ponce released the album, which included well-received songs such as partial Real Audio clip Rezo, in June.

On this first undertaking, Ponce introduced the world to his songwriting ability with the first single, "Rezo" which catapulted to the number-one slot on Billboard magazine's Hot Latin Tracks just three weeks after its release and remained at the top of the charts for the next nine weeks. With its subsequent release in Latin America, the song quickly rose to the top of the charts in countries such as Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Ecuador. The phenomenal success of the song paved the way for the second single, "Decir Adiós" which mirrored the success of its predecessor by reaching the number-one position in Billboard as well as charts worldwide. In addition, "Carlos Ponce," the album has been certified Double Platinum in the U.S. and Gold in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela and Central America, and the song, "Amelia," was chosen by Germany as the official song of the athletic games in Sevilla, Spain.

In 1998 while promoting his album, Ponce appeared in guest slots on two English-language television shows, "Beverly Hills 90210" and "7th Heaven." He was also invited to perform "Rezo" on "Live! with Regis & Kathie Lee."

Ponce won numerous awards for his first musical production including "Album of the Year, New Artist" by "Billboard" magazine, "Best Album Launch" by "ERES" magazine, "Best New Artist" in "Premios lo Nuestro," "Best Male Artist of the Year," at the "ACE" awards, "Revelation of the Year, Pop Ballad" and "Best Video, Pop Ballad" at "Premios Tu Música," "Best International New Artist" by TV y NOVELAS magazine and an award from BMI for his songwriting, among others.

On September 21 Ponce released his follow-up album, entitled Todo lo que soy, or "All That I Am." This new album features 11 original songs, nine of which which were written or co-written by Ponce. The first single from the album, "Escúchame" which hit the number one slot on Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks and quickly rose up the charts in Latin America. The album has been certified Platinum in the U.S. and Gold in Venezuela.