Edna María Nazario Figueroa (born April 11, 1955) is a Puerto Rican musician, singer, and composer who has achieved stardom both at home and abroad. She has been in the music business from a young age and has released twenty-three (23) studio albums and five (5) live albums throughout her career.
Biography
Childhood sensation
Nazario was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, to Domingo Nazario and Gudelia Figueroa. She has two older brothers (Tito and Alberto) and a younger brother (Frank, a.k.a. Pancho). Ednita showed inclinations to music even when small. A family anecdote tells that when she was 2 and shopping with her mother, she wandered away, and her mother found her singing on top of boxes to an enthusiastic crowd of laughing, clapping shoppers.
When she was six, she attended a baseball game in Ponce with her brothers. While she was playing with her brother's glove, the batter hit the ball toward her. She held the glove up for protection, and the ball landed squarely in it. The crowd went wild, including Alfred D. Herger, one of Puerto Rico's top record producers, who was seated near the family. When he asked her if she wanted to be a baseball player, she replied "No, I'm going to be a singer." He asked her to sing something for him, and she responded with an impressive rendition of a local salsa hit that left both the producer and the applauding crowd astonished. Two months later, Herger visited the Nazario household with a recording contract. After initial reluctance, the family signed the contract.
At 6, Ednita recorded her first song: "Mi Amor Lolipop," a Spanish version of "My Boy Lollipop". In 1966, at age 11, Nazario made her radio debut.
Teen success
After some presentations, Nazario started alongside singer and photographer José Manuel, and Frankie Sabath, in a band which Tony Morales created, called The Kids From Ponce. The group played at several hotels and television networks, and achieved local success, appearing on various TV shows. However, the group disbanded and they became soloists. Nazario, then 17, was offered her own prime-time TV variety show: El Show de Ednita, broadcast by Telemundo Puerto Rico, and produced by Paquito Cordero. During this time she also won the "Miss Puerto Rico Teenage pageant".
At age 18 in 1973, Nazario released her first album called Al Fin...Ednita. The album spawned a number 1 Hit: Te Quiero y No Me Importa (I Love You And I Don't Care), and also brought her award as "New Artist of the Year". With her TV show, Nazario became Puerto Rico's hottest idol. The show was also syndicated to other Latin-American countries. Among the international stars that she hosted were: Liza Minnelli, Bob Eberly, Charles Aznavour, Morey Amsterdam and Oscar-winning Puerto Rican actor José Ferrer. Ferrer was so charmed by Nazario's presence that he designed a nightclub act for both of them.
Ferrer was surprised at the reception of Nazario's show. They were booked at several hotels in the Caribbean, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas and New York. They appeared at the Hyatt Hotel in Canada, and she was invited by Monaco's Royal Family to perform at the famous casino of Monte Carlo three times.
Rising star
In the late 1970s Nazario participated in the eight edition of the OTI Festival as a singer with the song "Cadenas de Fuego" (Fire chains) getting a more than respectable fifth place with 21 points, and in 1980 as a songwriter with the song: Contigo, Mujer (With you, Woman), co-written by her husband at the time, Laureano Brizuela, an Argentine singer and songwriter. The latter song, performed by Rafael José, won top prize of the festival scoring 36 points. She also gained notoriety for her performance in a duet with Brizuela, of the theme song of the successful Puerto Rican telenovela, Coralito:Mi Pequeño Amor (Coralito:My Little Love), which Brizuela had written. During the late 1970's, Nazario participated in a musical collaboration with boy band Menudo, in which she and the group sang a cover of ABBA's song "Chiquitita", with Nazario playing the titular "Chiquitita" in a music video she and the band recorded.
During this time Nazario signed subsequent record deals, first with local label Borinquen, then Ariola, and finally Padosa. During this time, she matured her style to one that was more pop/rock oriented. She also cemented her place as a touring force in Latin-America.