Lunna
Encyclopedia
Lunna is a singer of Pop
and Jazz
who was the director of the television show Objetivo Fama
, the Latin version of American Idol
.
a city which is located in the southern part of the island. While in elementary school, she learned how to play the guitar
and in 1973, her mother had her take private singing lessons. Her friends in high school would call her by her nickname "Socky", which was short for her middle name Socorro.
In 1978, Lunna auditioned and was accepted in a group called Allegro, a locally popular group which included singer Tito Lara
. Besides singing for Allegro, she also landed jobs singing radio
and television
commercials. Lunna eventually decided to leave the group and sing solo. Her agent recommended that she change her artistic name and that's when she adopted the name of "Lunna".
She met and became romantically involved with Puerto Rican
rock and roll
teen idol, Charlie Robles. This romance was highly publicized in Puerto Rico and soon they were married. Sockey and Charlie had a daughter from this marriage; however, things didn't go well in the marriage and the couple ended up in divorce.
, Peru
, to represent Puerto Rico at the OTI Festival
, with the song "Eres Mi Musica" (You're My Music). Her fame soared in Puerto Rico, but her career was interrupted because of personal reasons. After four years of absence from the world of music, Glenn Monroig
, a fellow singer, convinced her to return. Together they recorded the album "A Todo Dar" (Everything Gives), the first digital
ly produced album in Puerto Rico. The album was renamed "Motivos" (Motives) and was produced by Angel "Cuco" Peña, it became a big "hit" in Puerto Rico. Among the songs included in the album was the song "Yo Perdi" (I Lost). "Yo Perdi" made Puerto Rican musical history, when it became the "first" Puerto Rican song to be converted into a musical video, filmed in 35 mm. In 1983, Lunna married "Cuco" Peña, with whom she had three children, Gabriel, Juan and Angel (they later divorced).
In 1987, Lunna was signed by A&M Records and recorded the following successful songs, "No Digas Nada" (Don't Say Anything), "Ni Princesa, Ni Esclava" (Nor Princess, Nor Slave) and "Fugitiva Amante" (Fugitive Lover). That same year, she was nominated for a Grammy Award
. In 1988 and 1989, Lunna continued to score more "hits" with the recording of "Soledad" (Loneliness), "Quien No Ha Sentido..." (Who Hasn't Felt...) and with "Como Ser Amante" (How to be a Lover) written by Michael Bolton
.
In 1992, Lunna reunited with Glen Monroig and together they recorded the album "Yo Que Te Adore" (I, Who Have Adored You). In 2003, Lunna recorded "Lunna de Bohemia", which included many classical boleros
. That same year, she suffered a personal tragedy when her son died. Lunna, who is also a jazz lover, participated in the "Heineken
Jazz Jam Session" and in the "Tropical Night at the Seaport".
, Puerto Rico Easter Seals, Say "No" to Drugs campaign, the Pediatric AIDS
Center and the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund. She is also a member of "La Damas Cívica de Puerto Rico" (The Civic Lady of Puerto Rico) and she was the director of the television show Objetivo Fama
, which was the Latin version of American Idol
. Lunna studies classical singing and musical composition at the Music Conservatory of Puerto Rico, where she earned her Bachelors Degree in Buiness Administration.
Alternate Discography:
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
and Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
who was the director of the television show Objetivo Fama
Objetivo Fama
Objetivo Fama is a Puerto Rican singing talent contest that has been on air for over five years on WLII, the Univision outlet in Puerto Rico; and on Telefutura in the mainland United States...
, the Latin version of American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
.
Early years
Lunna (birth name: Maria Socorro Garcia de la Noceda) was born and raised by both her parents in Ponce, Puerto RicoPonce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
a city which is located in the southern part of the island. While in elementary school, she learned how to play the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and in 1973, her mother had her take private singing lessons. Her friends in high school would call her by her nickname "Socky", which was short for her middle name Socorro.
In 1978, Lunna auditioned and was accepted in a group called Allegro, a locally popular group which included singer Tito Lara
Tito Lara
Tito Lara , was considered by many to be Puerto Rico's first television singing idol.-Early years:Born as Agustín Enrique Lara Olivencia in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, Lara was raised by his maternal grandmother and received primary education in Santurce. During his spare time, he taught himself to...
. Besides singing for Allegro, she also landed jobs singing radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
commercials. Lunna eventually decided to leave the group and sing solo. Her agent recommended that she change her artistic name and that's when she adopted the name of "Lunna".
She met and became romantically involved with Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
teen idol, Charlie Robles. This romance was highly publicized in Puerto Rico and soon they were married. Sockey and Charlie had a daughter from this marriage; however, things didn't go well in the marriage and the couple ended up in divorce.
Singing career
In 1981, Lunna went to LimaLima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, to represent Puerto Rico at the OTI Festival
OTI Festival
OTI Festival was an annual singing competition, held between 1972 and 2000, among active member countries of the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana .- Venues and Presenters :- Winners :-By country:...
, with the song "Eres Mi Musica" (You're My Music). Her fame soared in Puerto Rico, but her career was interrupted because of personal reasons. After four years of absence from the world of music, Glenn Monroig
Glenn Monroig
Glenn Monroig , is a composer, guitarist, and singer of various types of music styles, such as salsa, boleros and rumba. He is credited with having recorded the first rap song in Spanish.-Early years:...
, a fellow singer, convinced her to return. Together they recorded the album "A Todo Dar" (Everything Gives), the first digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
ly produced album in Puerto Rico. The album was renamed "Motivos" (Motives) and was produced by Angel "Cuco" Peña, it became a big "hit" in Puerto Rico. Among the songs included in the album was the song "Yo Perdi" (I Lost). "Yo Perdi" made Puerto Rican musical history, when it became the "first" Puerto Rican song to be converted into a musical video, filmed in 35 mm. In 1983, Lunna married "Cuco" Peña, with whom she had three children, Gabriel, Juan and Angel (they later divorced).
In 1987, Lunna was signed by A&M Records and recorded the following successful songs, "No Digas Nada" (Don't Say Anything), "Ni Princesa, Ni Esclava" (Nor Princess, Nor Slave) and "Fugitiva Amante" (Fugitive Lover). That same year, she was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
. In 1988 and 1989, Lunna continued to score more "hits" with the recording of "Soledad" (Loneliness), "Quien No Ha Sentido..." (Who Hasn't Felt...) and with "Como Ser Amante" (How to be a Lover) written by Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
.
In 1992, Lunna reunited with Glen Monroig and together they recorded the album "Yo Que Te Adore" (I, Who Have Adored You). In 2003, Lunna recorded "Lunna de Bohemia", which included many classical boleros
Music of Puerto Rico
The music of Puerto Rico has been influenced by the Spanish, African, Taíno Indians, France, and the United States, and has become very popular across the Caribbean and across the globe...
. That same year, she suffered a personal tragedy when her son died. Lunna, who is also a jazz lover, participated in the "Heineken
Heineken
Heineken is a Dutch beer which has been brewed by Heineken International since 1873. It is available in a 4.6% alcohol variety in countries such as Ireland. It is the flagship product of the Heineken company and is made of purified water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. In 1886 H...
Jazz Jam Session" and in the "Tropical Night at the Seaport".
Recognitions and awards
Among the many recognitions and awards Lunna has received are the following:- Represented Puerto Rico in the OTI Festival (1981)
- PaoliAntonio PaolíAntonio Paoli was a Puerto Rican tenor. He was known at the height of his fame as "The King of Tenors and The Tenor of Kings." He is considered to be the first Puerto Rican to reach international fame in the musical arts...
Best New Artist Award (1986) and (1993) - DiploRamon RiveroRamon Rivero is a pioneer of Performance animation using Realtime Optical Motion capture for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring .-External links:...
Female Sensation of the Year Award (1986) - El VoceroEl VoceroEl Vocero is a Puerto Rican newspaper that is published in San Juan.Published since 1974, El Vocero was at first the third of the four largest Puerto Rico newspapers, trailing El Mundo and El Nuevo Día and leading The San Juan Star in sales...
Performer of the Year (1986) - Paoli Performer of the Year Award (1987)
- Collage Night Club Best Show of the Year 1987
- Bravo Awards Miami Performer of the Year 1987
- GRAMMY Nomination Best Latin Performance (1988)
- Dominican RepublicDominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
Performer of the Year 1988 - AgueybanaAgüeybanáAgüeybaná and Agüeybaná II , were the principal and most powerful caciques of the Taíno people in "Borikén" when the Spaniards first arrived on the island on November 19, 1493.- "The Great Sun" :...
Performer of the Year Award 1988 - Super Q Miami Performer of the Year and Best Song of the Tear Awards (1989)
- Special recognition from the Massachusetts House of RepresentativesMassachusetts House of RepresentativesThe Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives serve two-year terms...
(1990) - El Encanto de la Isla Award (1993)
- Radio WNNW Boston Performer of the Year (1993)
- Official Godmother of the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York (1994)
- Puerto Rican Camara of Representatives Special Recognition 1994
- J.C. Penney Beauty Luminary 1994
- Special Guest "Banda de Puerto Rico" (Band of Puerto Rico) in SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
(2000) - Special Guest "Concierto Paz por la Paz" (Peace Concert) (2002)
- Special Recognition from the Senate of Puerto Rico (2004)
Civic participation
Among the many organizations in which Luna is currently involved as a private citizen are the American Cancer SocietyAmerican Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
, Puerto Rico Easter Seals, Say "No" to Drugs campaign, the Pediatric AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
Center and the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund. She is also a member of "La Damas Cívica de Puerto Rico" (The Civic Lady of Puerto Rico) and she was the director of the television show Objetivo Fama
Objetivo Fama
Objetivo Fama is a Puerto Rican singing talent contest that has been on air for over five years on WLII, the Univision outlet in Puerto Rico; and on Telefutura in the mainland United States...
, which was the Latin version of American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
. Lunna studies classical singing and musical composition at the Music Conservatory of Puerto Rico, where she earned her Bachelors Degree in Buiness Administration.
Discography
- Motivos (a/k/a A Todo Dar) (1986)
- Lunna (the album) (1987)
- Seré Tuya Esta Noche (1988)
- VentanasVentanasVentanas is a town in the Los Ríos Province of Ecuador. It is the seat of the Ventanas Canton....
(1989) - Yo Que Te Adoré (1992)
- Formas de Amarte (Pelican Records (1996)
- Lunna Bohemia (2003)
Alternate Discography:
- Allegro - 1978
- Te Canto Navidad – Triste Navidad - 1991
- 14 Súper Estrellas – 14 hits – 1991
- Viva Puerto Rico – 1993
- Si Me Miras a Los Ojos – Tony VegaTony VegaTony Vega is a renowned salsa singer and bandleader.-Early years:Vega received his primary education in his hometown. He was born into a family of musicians and therefore learned how to play the bongos and conga at an early age. In 1967, when he was 10 years old, he played the conga for a kids...
- 1994 - Ricardo MontanerRicardo MontanerRicardo Montaner is an Argentine-Venezuelan singer and songwriter. Starting his career in the early 80s, he has already released more than 15 albums with numerous successful singles and has sold over 22 million record worldwide.-Early years:Montaner was born as Héctor Eduardo Reglero Montaner, in...
y Amigos - 1994 - Voces de Puerto Rico – Barrunto - 1994
- Un Pueblo que Canta (Banco Popular de Puerto Rico) - 1996
- El Espíritu de un Pueblo (Banco Popular de Puerto Rico) - 1996
- Déjame Intentarlo –Johnny Rivera - 1996
- Free to Be, Vol. 6 "Un Amor como el mío", "The Right Stuff" - 1997
- Temptation – Brenda K. StarrBrenda K. StarrBrenda K. Starr is an American singer-songwriter. She is well known originally in dance-pop, but now mostly in salsa-based music...
– 2002 - Ocho Puertas *(Banco Popular de Puerto Rico) - 2003
See also
- List of famous Puerto Ricans