Йоландита Монхе: Путь к успеху и творчество

Puerto Rican singer

Yolanda Rosa Monge Betancourt (born September 16, 1955), known professionally as Yolandita Monge, is a Puerto Rican singer, actress, and television personality. She has been active in the music business since her teen years and has recorded 27 studio albums and two live albums, as well as several greatest hits compilations and special appearance recordings.

Monge was born in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico on September 16, 1955, is the daughter of Iris Delia Betancourt and Héctor Monge. She lived the first seven years of her life in New York City and then came back to Puerto Rico. During the early 70s, she met Alfredo Lorenzo, in New York, and married him on November 13, 1975. They had a daughter, Noelia, but the marriage ended soon afterwards. In 1983, she married Venezuelan singer Balbino, Immediately, on November 22, 2008, Yolandita released the album Mala, produced once again by José Luis Pagán and following the same musical and lyrical style as her previous Demasiado Fuerte. This album contains the song "Oportunidad Perdida" featuring Víctor Manuelle, which was re recorded with Anthony Ríos in bachata style. Also, the song "Mala" was remixed in reggaeton style featuring Ivy Queen and in salsa style featuring La India. The song "Una y Otra Vez" was remixed in reggaeton style featuring Divino. After the success of those radio remixes, Yolandita recorded a remix single with reggaeton artist Tito el Bambino called "El Amor", which used her same titled smash hit from the 80s to his version. The song made it to the No. 1 spot in the Hot Latin Songs Billboard Chart. On September 11, 2010, Yolandita debuted at Coliseo de Puerto Rico in the concert 20 Años de Vivencias, celebrating the twenty year anniversary of the release of her iconic album Vivencias. She performed the vast majority of her hits of the 70's, 80's, and 90's, as well as her current repertoire. Soon after, Yolandita returned to Centro de Bellas Artes in April 2011, for a once in a lifetime sold out concert accompanied by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Puerto Rico, as part of the thirty year anniversary celebration of the venue. All the songs were deconstructed and performed acoustically. During 2012, Yolandita was one of three judges in Idol Puerto Rico, along with her husband Carlos 'Topy' Mamery and Ricardo Montaner during the second season of the program. On November 13, 2012, Yolandita released her new album Más Para Dar, with lyrics written by herself and José Luis Pagán. The album was produced by José Luis Pagán and it follows the same musical and lyrical style as her previous records. Yolandita returned to Coliseo de Puerto Rico for the "Más Para Dar Tour" on March 16, 2013. Beginning in the Dominican Republic, this concert tour visited cities in the United States, Puerto Rico and Latin America. In the concerts at Santo Domingo, Yolandita shared the stage with Danny Rivera. On December 3, 2014, her husband and manager of more than twenty years, Carlos 'Topy' Mamery, died of a massive heart attack. The funeral was held on December 5, 2014, alongside hundreds of fans, friends and family members. After that tragedy, Yolandita retired from public view for the following months of 2015. On September 20, 2015, Yolandita returned to the concert stage after nine months of mourning at Coliseo de Puerto Rico for "Latidos de mi Corazón", a tribute to her late husband Carlos 'Topy' Mamery. She performed some of her hits and her new digital single Sin Tí, a song written by Las Diego, as well as other love songs from other artists. Her children, Imanol and Paola, joined her on stage for two songs, as well as some relatives of the Mamery and Monge families for the encore. On May 28, 2016, she presented the concert "Latidos de mi Corazón" at the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts in New York for her many fans there. Yolandita recorded a jazz version of the Latin American standard Cuando Vuelva A Tu Lado for Humberto Ramírez's new album Bohemia Jazz, released on January 27, 2016. The album contains other songs performed by Nydia Caro, Chucho Avellanet, Dagmar, Michelle Brava, Andy Montañez and Carola Ausbury. The singer was one of many artists that performed at the Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2016, 2017 & 2018. On May 13, 14 & 27, 2017, Yolandita teamed for the first time with Lissette Alvarez for a three sold out performances at Centro de Bellas Artes of Caguas for the concert "Emociones". She sang her most beloved hits along with duets with Lissette Alvarez. The singers performed together the hits "Hoy Vine Con Ella", "Cantaré", "El Amor" and "Gracias a la Vida", as well as sharing a medley of both their greatest hits. Yolandita returned to Centro de Bellas Artes for five sold out performances of the new show "Por Tí" on December 6, 7 & 8, 2019 and February 14 & 15, 2020. Monge performed all her greatest hits including a new version of the 1989 club hit Por Ti and several other songs in an a cappella sing along with the audience. The singer remains active throughout the year performing in concerts and festivals in Puerto Rico and other Latin American countries.

Monge has had a very distinguished acting career, she's acted in more than ten Spanish soap operas, as well as various theatre plays and TV shows. Among the telenovelas, she acted in: Vida (Life), (where she performed with Johanna Rosaly), La Mentira (The Lie), Poquita Cosa (Small Thing), Escándalo (Scandal) (where she acted alongside Andrés García, Iris Chacón and Charytín), and Ave de Paso (Bird of Passage), where she played the main role, and sang the theme song: "Nunca Te Diré Adiós", composed for her by Lou Briel. This song was a big hit in 1989, and it was included in a Special Edition Album: Yolandita Monge Live from New York. She also acted in the original version of the Colombian mega hit soap opera, La Viuda de Blanco along with Osvaldo Ríos, Maria Helena Doehring, Jorge Enrique Abello and Danilo Santos. From 1996 to 1997, this soap opera was translated in more than 32 languages. Her theatrical debut was in La Visita de la Bestia, which is a Spanish version of Extremities, and she got good reviews from the press by playing the very dramatic main role. She also earned international recognition playing the Greek soprano, Maria Callas, in the Spanish version of the Tony Award winner play Master Class (Clase Maestra) in 2003, for the Latin community in the United States and Latin America. Yolandita made all the critics bow when they saw her rendition of the late diva. A year later she landed the lead female role in the musical La Verdadera Historia de Pedro Navaja (The True Story of Pedro Navaja), opposite Gilberto Santa Rosa. For her performance as Diana la Maromera (Diana the Juggler), in this musical, she got good reviews. In 1999, Monge headlined the TV movie Ocho años de Dolor (Eight Years of Pain), where she played a woman kidnapped by the famous Puerto Rican serial killer and fugitive of the law Toño Bicicleta. Yolandita's most recent acting role was in the Puerto Rican movie Mujeres sin Hombres (Women without Men), in 2006. She joined Sully Diaz and Claribel Medina in this story about 3 women and the revenge of men. After that in 2010, Yolandita starred in the first episode of the Telemundo TV Series called Extremos. In it she played the roles of twin sister. The reviews of Yolandita's acting role were good in this dramatic role. The critics indicated that " When it comes to acting, Yolandita can be intense and excellent as she is as a singer ". Most recently, in 2017 she joined the cast of Malas and in 2018 she performed alongside other actresses in The Vagina Monologues.

Year Album Title Record Label Notes Certifications1969 Puerto Rico's Poignant Powerful Incomparable Patty Records1970A star is Shining1971 La Personalidad de Yolandita Monge1971 Recuérdame Teca Records1972 Parece Fantasía Teca Records 1973 Yo Soy Audiovox Records1974 Con Todo Mi Amor !1975 Floreciendo! Coco Records Gold1976 Reflexiones1977 Soy Ante Todo Mujer1978 En Su Intimidad1979 Estilo y Personalidad Discofon Compilation album1980 Fantasia CBS Records 1981 Historia de Amour 1983 Sueños 1985 Luz de Luna Gold1986 Mis Canciones Preferidas Compilation album1987 Laberinto de Amor Gold1988Nunca Te Diré Adiós / En ConciertoLive album Vivencias Gold, Platinum, Double Platinum1990 Portfolio Gold 1991 Limited EditionRemix album Mis Canciones Preferidas 2 Compilation album 1992 Cara de Ángel WEA Latina Gold, Platinum, Double Platinum Mi Mejor RegaloChristmas album1994 Fiebre de Luna Gold1995 Yolandita (1995) Gold1997 Mi Encuentro Gold1999 Siento BMG U. S. Latin 2000 Yolandita En VivoLive album Yolandita (2000) Z Records Compilation album2002 Sexto Sentido Warner Music Latina2007 Demasiado Fuerte Univision Music Gold2008 Mala Universal Music Latino 2012 Más Para Dar Roma Entertainment