Veronica (born Veronica Vazquez in 1975 in the Bronx, New York) is a dance music singer and theatrical actress. Along with singers Ultra Nate, Deborah Cox, she is considered to be one of the leading divas of the 1990s club music scene. She also is one of the few Latinas to become a successful artist in the English-language dance music genre.
She began her career, in 1995 with the release of her debut album
V...As in Veronica. The album was a mixture of R&B and Hip hop and also featured production from Rodney Jerkins and Dallas Austin. In 1997, Veronica released her second album
Rise. This album was again R&B and Hip Hop influenced. She released two singles/videos off of this album. The first single was No One But You and it feautured Craig Mack. The second single and album title track,
Rise, was released and that featured guest vocals by Big Pun & Cuban Link. As one of the first artists to signed to Jellybean Recordings, a label founded by legendary music producer Jellybean Benitez, Veronica had a string of hits on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, including three reached the top ten. Her first number one on this chart is today's post,
Let Me Go... Release Me. Soon afterwards it was followed by the legendary club anthem
Someone To Hold (which peaked at the number two slot) and was remixed by producer Johnny Vicious and played heavily in the club circuit scene. The song still remains a classic among clubgoers today and it was featured on the soundtrack to the independent film
Trick released in 1999 and starred Christian Campbell and Tori Spelling. She scored a second number one dance hit in 2000 with her cover of Evelyn "Champagne" King's classic R&B song I'm In Love, which was rerecorded for a club setting. She remains a very popular singer to this very day among gay audiences and especially in the club circuit scene.
She moved away from New York and the club music scene for a few years. During these years, she pursued her love for musical theater and was given the opportunity to portray slain Tejano singer Selena in a traveling production about her life and times. The production, titled Selena Forever traveled to numerous cities with a large Mexican-American population for over a year. Shortly after the successful run of the production, she decided to return to New York and start a family and return to her love of music. In 2004, Veronica recorded a song with rapper Triple Seis titled "Krazy". The song was featured on Triple Seis' debut album Time'll Tell. After a brief hiatus, Veronica returned in 2006, with music producer Tim Rex on her first dance single in over five years, Relentless...Just a Game. She soon will be seen in the film The Singer where she plays Hector Lavoe's mother in his younger years. The film is scheduled to be released in fall 2007.
She presently resides in New York City with her husband and their son, C.J. After her son was diagnosed with autism, Veronica has become a tireless advocate for further research and has led several efforts, including charitable walkathons, to raise research funds and awareness for the disorder.
