Noelia Lorenzo Monge (born August 31, 1979^[3][4] in San Juan, Puerto Rico),^[1][5] mostly known as Noelia, is a Puerto Rican pop singer who rose to fame in 1999. She is the first daughter of Puerto Rican singer Yolandita Monge.

Her self-titled debut album was certified as a gold album in the United States. During her career she has had ten Latin Billboard Top 40 hits. A Latin Billboard Award Winner.^[6]

Musical career [link]

Noelia started working on her first full-length album in 1998. The self-titled album was finally released in 1999, making her debut at the Madison Square Garden. The album produced the hit single "Tu", written by Estéfano. In total, Noelia has sold almost 4 million copies, including almost 1 million in the U.S. from her debut album that was certified gold by in the U.S.^[6]

In 2000 she released her second album, Golpeando Fuerte.

Her third album, Natural, released in 2003 featured another hit song, "Clávame Tu Amor", which peaked at #5 on Billboard Hot Latin Tracks.^[7] The album also featured songwriting contributions from her then boyfriend, Alexis Grullón.^[8]

In 2004, she surprised with her fourth studio album titled Melao, which was a fusion of pop with reggaeton.^[9] The album was produced by reggaeton producer, DJ Eric, and features Yamil sharing lead vocals with Noelia. They also co-wrote most of the songs of the album.^[10]

In 2006, she returned to her musical roots with the album 40 Grados, produced by Adrián Posse. The album featured the single "Como Duele", which was nominated by Billboard as Pop Song of the Year.^[11] The song was also chosen as the theme for the Mexican telenovela Barrera de Amor and peaked at #8 on Billboard Hot Latin Songs.^[12]

In 2007, she released her sixth full-length album titled Volverte a Ver.

She has been working on two albums, her first English single for the European market was titled Caribbean Queen. It was released in May 2009 mostly in Italy. The song is a cover version of Billy Ocean's hit song of 1984 with added Lyrics by Noelia.

In 2009 Actress and model Elisabetta Canalis released in Italy a compilation album "TOP HITS by Hollywood-Milano" (2009, Sony-BMG). This album inlcluded top singers from America in Europe, including Katy Perry, Pink and Lady Gaga. The compilation was certified platinum during the first week of sales.^[13]

In mid-2011 Noelia broke a record for Hispanic online audience in the U.S. with her online concert produced by Hispanic Media Giant Univision. The concert attracted more than 3.5 million viewers.^[14]

In 2012 Noelia released the single " Kiss Me !, which was premiered in Univision.com and Peopleenespanol.com and was in the Top 40 Hot Latin Track according to Billboard Magazine of March 2012. Noelia was featured in the cover of Billborad Magazine during the first week of march 2012. In March 2012, Noelia started working with producer and singer Timbaland on the upcoming new English tracks of Noelia.

On April 2, 2012, Noelia's single “Kiss Me” appeared in the Billboard Charts both in the Dance and Latin Hot Track categories.^[15]

Personal life [link]

Noelia, the first daughter of Puerto Rican singer and actress Yolandita Monge and Uruguayan businessman Alfredo Lorenzo,^[16] showed interest in music from childhood.^[17] Noelia has two half-siblings from Monge's subsequent marriages, sister Paola and brother Imanol.

Noelia has been romantically involved to show business personalities throughout her career. She had a four-year relationship with former MDO member, Alexis Grullón.^[18] In 2004, she also had a brief relationship with rapper Yamil, with whom she worked on the album Melao. Since 2005, she is in a relationship with Mexican-American aviation entrepreneur and producer Jorge Reynoso, who is also managing Noelia's international career.^[19] Rumors have circulated about them getting married, but both have denied it.^[20]

Controversies [link]

In June 2007, an anal sex tape of Noelia and her ex-boyfriend Yamil was leaked on the Internet.^[21][22][23] In August 2007, Noelia accused her stepfather and former manager, Topy Mamery, of sexually assaulting her back in 2003; she claimed to have filed a lawsuit, calling singer Ricardo Montaner as a witness.^[24] However, Mamery denied having received any lawsuit,^[25] and Montaner denied ever having been called to testify. During an interview with Primer Impacto, Montaner was asked about this and he said, "I have never seen anything weird (between Noelia and Mamery). Mamery is a gentleman that has loved Noelia as his daughter."^[26]

Topy Mamery claims that he was not the first person Noelia had accused of sexual assault. In the last five years, the singer had pointed the finger at Guillermo Santiso, former president of Fonovisa (her old record label), and singer Alejandro Montaner, son of Ricardo Montaner.^[27]

It was speculated that Topy Mamery was the person who leaked the private video of the star in 2007.^[28] Weeks later, Mamery sued Noelia and Jorge Reynoso in Federal Court for defamation and libel.^[29] In February 2008, Noelia's lawyer decided to quit representing Noelia in the defamation lawsuit against her.^[30] In May 2008, the judge José A. Fusté did an annotation of defiance to the singer Noelia and to her partner and manager, Jorge Reynoso, in favor of the petition presented by Mamery, who sued the couple for defamation for knowingly making a false declaration that he had sexually assaulted Noelia.^[31] However, on June 13, 2008, Fusté dismissed the case by declaring that there was no defamation or libel since Mamery was a public figure. Fusté concluded that "although it is true there might be some indication that Reynoso could be connected to the website where the video was sold, the court could not say for sure if he was the one that put it" up for sale. Fusté also reprimanded both sides for public airing of their personal issues.^[32]

Discography [link]

Studio albums [link]

• 1999: Noelia
• 2000: Golpeando Fuerte
• 2003: Natural
• 2004: Melao
• 2005: 40 Grados
• 2007: Volverte a Ver

Singles [link]

References [link]

External links [link]

• Allmusic page
• Spanish article about Noelia in Primera Hora about her cover appearance in Maxim magazine.
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