Yurena
María del Mar Cuena Seisdedos (born 11 December 1966 in Baracaldo), known under the stage names Tamara (1990–2004), Ámbar (2004–2005) and then Yurena (from 2005) is a Spanish pop singer.[1] Her early career was marred by controversy, but after a five-year hiatus from the music industry while she operated a club, she launched a successful comeback. Her music was introduced to China in 2014.
Biography[]
María del Mar Cuena Seisdedos was born on 11 December 1969, in Barakaldo, Vizcaya, Spain. Daughter of Floreal Cuena Ruiz (b. 1936) and Margarita Seisdedos Santos (1928–2019).[2] She began singing in 1990 under the vocal coach Concha Jimenez, with whom she studied for three years in Las Arenas. She prepared a repertoire of ten familiar songs and began performing under the name of "Tamara" at local theaters and pubs, debuting at the Libredon in Portugalete in July 1991.[3]
In 1993 Tamara recorded her first album with songs composed exclusively for her by Northern Studies of Portugalete, including "A por ti" which became a number 1 song years later. She started touring the country and appearing at several radio stations to promote the album.[3] After years of traveling the country, in 1998, she settled in Madrid and met singers and , forming a trio which appeared on various television shows. Finally in 2000 she landed a small part in Crónicas marcianas by ,[1] which was the number one late night television show in Spain.[4] She made tabloid headlines when she claimed to be pregnant by the seer Paco Porras, but the controversy brought her regular appearances on Crónicas marcianas.[1]
That same year, she released a single No cambié written by Leonardo Dantés,[1] which became a number one single,[5] spending ten weeks at the top of the singles chart AFYVE. Following that success, in 2001 she joined the singer Alaska and released a studio album of 14 songs called Superestar which included musicians Carlos Berlanga, Nacho Canut, Joaquin Fernandez (a member of Los Nikis) and .[6] She was considered by many a disco diva and had a large club following. She is credited with being one of the few women who ever was on the cover of Zero,[7] (issue No. 23. 2000).[8] The following years found her embroiled in numerous scandals, suicide attempts, and finally she was sued over the use of her stage name by a bolero singer, Tamara Macarena Valcárcel Serrano.[9]
Rebirth as Yurena[]
After the suit, for a brief time she used the stage name Ambar, but settled on the name Yurena.[9] In May 2005 she launched a Maxi single with 2 tracks + 2 remixes called "Vuelvo", which received favorable reviews.[10] After she and her mother were attacked on the street in Madrid,[11] Yurena announced that she was no longer going to sing but would operate a nightclub in Madrid. She opened "Glam Street", in the neighborhood of Malasaña, featuring rock of the 80s and 90s,[12] which she operated for five years.[13]
She returned to recording in 2012, releasing both "Everynight" and "Go" in English[14] and reached the top of the charts with "Go".[15] In 2014, she began touring in China,[16] made a documentary about the experience[17] released "Around the World" which became a YouTube sensation,[18] and in 2015, released "My Life".[19]
Discography[]
Albums[]
- Versiones (1991)
- A por ti (1993)
- Planeta Tamara (2001)
- Tamara Superestar (2001)
- Around The World (2016)
Maxi singles[]
- "A por ti / No cambié" (2000)
- "No cambié" editado en México (2000)
- "Tiembla Tamara" (2001)
- "Tú vas a ser mi hombre" (The Club Mixes) (2001)
- "Yo soy así" (2003)
- "Vuelvo" (2005)
- "Everynight" (2012)
- "Go" (2012)
- "Forget" (2013)
- "On the Dancefloor / No Cambie" (Remix 2014)
- "Around the World" (2014)
- "My Life" (2015)
- "Take on Me" (2015)
- "Freedom" (2017)
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Infante, Javier (22 October 2000). "El fenómeno Tamara" (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Cronica el Mundo. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ Navarro, Maruya; Carrero, Manuel (29 January 2001). "Las memorias de Tamara, episode 1". Interviú (in Spanish). Spain: Interviú. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Yurena". Last FM (in Spanish). Last FM. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ "Se despide "Crónicas Marcianas", el programa que cambió la TV en España" (in Spanish). Spain: Vertele. 21 July 2005. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ "Tamara la reina de las descargas musicales en Terra Mobile". Noticias (in Spanish). Spain: Noticias. 27 December 2000. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ Rodríguez, Rafa (1 June 2001). "Miss Superestar 2001 para epatar" (in Spanish). Spain: El Mundo. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ "Tamara, Ambar, Yurena - Vete a la porra". Dalealplay (in Spanish). Spain: Dalealplay. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ "Zero No. 23 (2000)". Estaticos (in Spanish). Spain: Estaticos. 2000. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Rada, J. (10 June 2005). "Tamara se reencarna en Yurena" (in Spanish). Spain: 20minutos. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ "Vuelvo - Yurena". Ciao (in Spanish). Spain: Ciao. 15 July 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ "Agredidas en plena Gran Vía de Madrid" (in Spanish). Spain: A tu Lado. 18 January 2007. Archived from the original on 18 January 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ "La nueva reina 'glam' de Malasaña" (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: El Mundo. 11 May 2006. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ "Yurena "Casi todo lo que se ha contado de mí es falso"" (in Spanish). Seville, Spain: Sevilla Magazine. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ Lora, M. J. (9 January 2013). "Yurena renace en Sevilla con su nuevo single "Go"" (in Spanish). Seville, Spain: ABC de Sevilla. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ Nemolato, Luis (25 March 2013). "Yurena: 'Siempre seré la mujer que yo desee ser, como hasta ahora'" (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: El Mundo. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ O'Malley, Odi (23 July 2014). "Yurena, en su mejor momento: "En un año, mi nuevo álbum podría ser un hecho"" (in Spanish). Spain: La Reputada. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ "Yurena protagoniza un documental sobre su exitosa gira en Shanghái" (in Spanish). Spain: Formula TV. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ "Yurena regresa pisando fuerte" (in Spanish). Spain: El Diario Montanes. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ^ "Así suena 'My Life', el single de atardecer ibicenco de Yurena" (in Spanish). Spain: La Reputada. 7 April 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- 1969 births
- Living people
- Spanish women singers