Florencia Vicenta de Casillas-Martínez Cardona[3] (born July 19, 1940), known by her stage name Vikki Carr, is an American vocalist. She has a singing career that spans more than five decades.
Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican parents, she has performed in a variety of musical genres, including pop, jazz and country, while her greatest success has come from singing in Spanish. She established the Vikki Carr Scholarship Foundation in 1971. Vikki Carr has won three Grammys and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008 at the 9th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.[4]
Cardona was born in El Paso, Texas, on July 19, 1940. In 1958, she graduated from Rosemead High School in Rosemead, California, in a class that included famed fashion designer Bob Mackie. Under the stage name "Vikki Carr" she signed with Liberty Records in 1962. Her first single to achieve success was "He's a Rebel", which in 1962 reached No. 3 in Australia and No. 115 in the United States. Producer Phil Spector heard Carr cutting the song in the studio and immediately produced his own cover version with the Blossoms (though it was presented as a recording by The Crystals) which reached No. 1 in the United States. In 1966, Carr toured South Vietnam with actor/comedian Danny Kaye to entertain American troops. The following year, her album It Must Be Him was nominated for three Grammy Awards. The title track reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in 1967, sold more than 1 million copies and received a gold disc.[5]
Carr followed with two US Top 40 hits: 1968's "The Lesson" and 1969's "With Pen in Hand". Around this time, Dean Martin called her "the best girl singer in the business". In total, Carr had 10 singles and 13 albums that made the US pop charts.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Carr had enormous success in the Latin music world, winning Grammy Awards for Best Mexican-American Performance in 1986 for her album Simplemente Mujer, Best Latin Pop Album in 1992 for Cosas del Amor and Best Mexican-American Performance in 1995 for Recuerdo a Javier Solís.[6] She also received Grammy nominations for the discs Brindo a La Vida, Al Bolero, A Ti (1993) and Emociones (1996).[6] Her numerous Spanish-language hit singles include "Total", "Discúlpame", "Déjame", "Hay Otro en Tu Lugar", "Esos Hombres", "Mala Suerte" and "Cosas del Amor". "Cosas del Amor" spent more than two months at No. 1 on the US Latin charts in 1991, her biggest Spanish-language US hit. Her Spanish-language albums have been certified gold and platinum in Mexico, Chile, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Colombia and Ecuador. She also voiced Georgette in the Latin American dub of Disney's Oliver & Company.
In 1999, Carr taped a PBS TV special, Vikki Carr: Memories, Memorias, in which she performed popular bilingual tunes from the 1940s and 1950s. Her guests were Arturo Sandoval and Jack Jones.[7] In 2001, she released a bilingual holiday album, The Vikki Carr Christmas Album.
Carr appeared to great acclaim in a 2002 Los Angeles production of the Stephen Sondheim musical Follies, which also featured Hal Linden, Patty Duke and Harry Groener.[8] In 2006, Carr made a cameo appearance in a straight-to-video thriller called Puerto Vallarta Squeeze. Carr hosted a PBS TV special in 2008, Fiesta Mexicana, which celebrated the music and dance of Mexico. Later that year she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Recording Academy. Carr marked the occasion with an appearance on the Latin Grammy telecast, in which she performed "Cosas del Amor" with Olga Tañón and Jenni Rivera.[9]
Carr has been married three times, first to producer and entertainment attorney Dann Moss, then paint company executive Michael Nilsson.[10] She was married to San Antonio, Texas, physician Pedro De Leon from 1993 until his death in 2019.[11][12]
In the Family Guy episode "Total Recall", Peter remarks, "So what? She can name a kind of car. Big whoop, I can do that, too. Vikki. Vikki Carr".[16]
At a November 12, 1974 state dinner, Don Penny was dancing with Betty Ford while President Gerald Ford was dancing with Vikki Carr. Carr asked the president "What's your favorite Mexican dish?" to which he replied, "You are." Betty Ford was not amused.[17]
In the 1987 film Moonstruck, Cosmo Castorini is a fan of the singer, often listening to her record "It Must Be Him"; his wife Rose remarks to their daughter Loretta: "Now he's going to play that damn Vikki Carr record, and when he comes to bed he won't touch me."[18]
In The Nanny season 2 episode "Strange Bedfellows", several nannies celebrate the retirement of Mona, played by Tyne Daly. Bemoaning how little she received after devoting her life to raising the children of other people, Mona says "you give somebody's kids the best years of your life and what do you get? A pat on the back and a couple of stinking Vikki Carr CDs."[19]
"In the Spotlight with Vikki Carr" hosted by Ron Roberts. A one-hour monthly internet radio program streaming worldwide, devoted to the music of Vikki Carr: 3:00 – 4:00pm NYT, with rebroadcasts as per the program schedule.
