Wikipedia:List of hoaxes on Wikipedia/Shantal Méndez
Template:Infobox musical artist 2
Shantal Lucía Méndez is a four-time Grammy Award winning American-Mexican singer-songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her cathcy dance and pop songs and her Latino-inspired power ballads. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) ranks her album ¡Baile! ¡Baile! ¡Baile! as the 1st best-selling Latin msuic album in America and as the seventh best-selling singer in America's history. Most known for her hits Boda-Pantano, Universe Heroes, I'm Here to Save The World, You Start and additionals.
Early life and discovery
She was born Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States, a year after her parents moved there from Guadalajara, Jalisco. Her mother, Marisabel Romero Quintero was a stage actor and now is a screenplay writer and songwriter who also wrote some songs for Shantal. Her father, Adelmar Méndez is a well-known architect. Shantal is named after the well-knwon Mexican actress Lucía Méndez (Shantal's second name is Lucía) that is a very close friend of the family.
Shantal is having four brothers (Melin, Regino, Pierre and Robert) and one sister (Gloria). She is the third sister in the family.
Discovery
Shantal was early discoverd by William Orbit while she performed among Ricky Martín in Phoenix, Arizona in 1989. She won that collabration in a mini-competition she took part in Kids Incorporated, there, kids sang well-known American classics. She sang You're All I Need to Get By, originally by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Orbit took her for some recordings and in March 16, 1990 she signed into Warner Bros. Records.
1990 - 1993: Roots and Vivas
In the first two years as a recording artists William Orbit that became her manager worked with her about a debut album to be released near Christmas, including covers for known Christmas songs and American classics. It was released under the name "Roots" on December 3, 1991, three weeks before the Christmas Eve. The only single from that single was "Let It Rain!" that, in a suprising method, succeed and reached the Top 20 in the USA and the United Kingdom. In the Christmas Eve of 1991 she performed some Christmas song on the christmas stage in her city, Santa Fe.
Right after Christmas ended Warner Bros. Records and William were about to work on another album with Shantal, this time an exspressing album of her Latin roots and music style. On that album she worked with Gloria and Emilio Estefan and started to write some songs in Spanish. Meanwhile she was touring all around South America, mainly Argentina, covering well-known Spanish-language classics, in her version.
On October 1992 one song leaked into the radio, called "Molestado". That song charted in Argentina, although it never released as a single.
The first single really released in January 7, 1993, called "Celebración". That song became a hit in South America reaching the third place in Brazil, the fifth place in Mexico and the first places in Argentina and Hot Latin Tracks American chart. Following that single there was "You Start" that became a huge hit also, achieving the first place in the Hot Latin Tracks chart, sixth in Argentina, United States and even the United World Chart. That song was also the debut successful song of Shantal in Europe.
"You Start" and "Celebración" were the only singles from her second album, but another song from it was very successfull; "Boys Can't be an Issue" that became a leading dance track in dancing clubs and discotheques. "Vivas" released only after them in September 29, 1993 and charted tenth on the American album chart. Following the album Shantal went to a tour around America with guest stars Frankie Beverly, Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas, Mercedes Sosa, Julieta Venegas and Gloria Estefan.
1994 - 1996: Career establishment
After the tour has been over Shantal was about to record another album, again with Gloria and Emilio Estefan but this time also with Julieta Venegas, a near friend of Méndez. The working proccess about the album started in November 1993 and ended in May 1994.
Angel Rojo
Angel Rojo debuted in a small CD shop in Santa Fe where she used to buy CD's at a young age on the date of July 8, 1994. Shantal's fans and music writers rushed into the shop to buy the album. It debuted in the Europe, Australia by July 17, 1994, in South America by August 2, 1994 and finally in North America and other countries in August 8, 1994, a month after the release in Santa Fe.
The debut single from the album was "Tenemos Tiempo", a catchy power ballad that peaked first places in 5 countries, including it Mexico for five weeks and her debut first place in the USA for two weeks.