Norma Monserrat Bustamante Laferte (born 2 May 1983) better known as Mon Laferte, is a Chilean and Mexican musician, singer, composer and painter. Her musical style is diverse, spanning across different genres such as pop, rock, bolero, cumbia, and salsa, showcasing her versatility and creativity.[2] Throughout the 2010s, she gained widespread recognition for her melodramatic style and "captivating stage persona".[3][4]
With over 1.5 million digital records sold in Latin America between albums and singles, she has established herself as the best-selling Chilean artist of the 21st century. Some of her hits include "Tormento", "Amor completo", "Si tú me quisieras", "Tu falta de querer", "Amárrame," and "Mi buen amor." Laferte has won four Latin Grammy Awards (the most for a Chilean artist), two MTV Europe Music Awards and has been nominated twice for the Grammy Awards. Her 2021-22 Latin America tour and first pregnancy were the subjects of a Netflix documentary, MON LAFERTE, te amo (translated to "Mon Laferte, I love you" in English) scheduled to premiere worldwide on August 1, 2024.[5]
Early life and education
Laferte grew up with her mother Myriam Laferte Herrera, her maternal grandmother Norma, and her younger sister Solange, in their hometown of Viña del Mar, Chile.[6] In 1992, at the age of nine, she won first prize in a contest organized by Orlando Peña Carvajal school.[7] She was given a guitar, on which she first began to compose her own songs.[8] At the age of thirteen she got a scholarship to study music for a year and a half at the conservatory in her hometown, although she preferred the self-taught path to the academic one. She honed her skills by playing in bars in Viña del Mar and Valparaiso.[9][10][11]
In August 2007, Laferte emigrated to Veracruz, Mexico. In 2008, she began performing as Mon Laferte.[12] On November 30, 2022, after living and working in Mexico for more than 15 years, Laferte was granted Mexican citizenship.[13]
Career
In 2003, Laferte, then known as Monserrat Bustamante, entered the Chilean reality competition series Rojo. That same year, she released her first studio album, La Chica de Rojo. The album had great success in Chile, receiving Gold and Platinum certifications. She became part of the Clan Rojo and was on the television series for four seasons.
In 2007, Laferte decided to start a new chapter in her musical career by moving from Chile to Mexico City, where she began singing in nightclubs and recording cover songs.[14] In 2009, she released a single titled "Lo mismo que yo", which was to be the lead single from an upcoming album.[15] The same year, Laferte was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, effectively putting a halt to her album.[16]
Around the time of her battle with cancer, she abandoned her original stage name and introduced the world to Mon Laferte, expressing that the name represented a new beginning for her:
"Mi cambio de nombre no es por querer ser otra persona, es que las circunstancias de la vida me han llevado a cambiar mucho y sentí que tenía que empezar de cero."[17]
Laferte decided to scrap the album she was recording in 2009, and returned two years later with her second studio album, titled Desechable. The next year, in 2012, she was invited to judge the second season of the Chilean version of The X Factor, called Factor X, along with Karen Doggenweiler, Tito Beltrán and José Luis Rodríguez.
It is also at this time her presentation at the beginning of 2012 as a vocalist of the Mexican heavy metal female band Mystica Girls, with whom in February 2014 she recorded the album titled Gates of Hell.[18][19]
Laferte released her fifth album La Trenza, her most acclaimed album to date, in 2017. Her single with Colombian rock star Juanes, "Amárrame", won the Best Alternative Song award at the 18th Latin GRAMMYs,[21] in which she was also nominated for Best Alternative Music Album, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and Record of the Year.[22] She also wins the category "Best North Latin Artist" in the 2017 MTV Europe Music Awards.[23][24][25]
In February 2018 she released the single "Antes de Ti" that was nominated to the 19th Annual Latin Grammy Awards as "Song of the Year". The video for the single was also Mon Laferte's directorial debut.[26] In June 2018, she co-hosted the 2018 MTV Millennial Awards in Mexico City at the Mexico City Arena along with the Venezuelan YouTube personality La Divaza.[27] During the year 2018, Mon worked on her sixth studio album, Norma, which was recorded in a single session in studio A of Capitol Studios of Los Angeles, the recording was made in one shot, without using the overdubbing technique of audio layers, but all the instruments playing simultaneously to give the material the feeling of live recording. In this recording 13 musicians participated. The production of this album was in charge of Omar Rodríguez-López, the recording engineer was Bruce Botnick. The album was released on 9 November 2018.
Mon Laferte in 2020
On 26 October, a collaboration was published for the new Christmas album of the American singer Gwen Stefani, in a version of the song "Feliz Navidad" by the Puerto Rican singer-songwriter José Feliciano. At the end of 2018, the international television network HTV nominated Mon Laferte in the "Best Southern Artist" category of the Heat Latin Music Awards 2019.
In January 2019, she was announced to participate in the American Music Festival Coachella. In February 2019, Mon Laferte received her first nomination at the Billboard Latin Music Awards in the Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year category, Female. Also the Album Norma received a Gold record in Mexico for 30,000 copies sold. In May 2019, the singer announced her U.S. tour, under the headline "La Gira de Norma". The first tour date is set for 10 August 2019, in Seattle's Neptune Theatre, following a European tour that same Summer.[28] On 14 November 2019, Mon Laferte made headlines with her act of political protest, exposing her breasts at the Latin Grammys to display the message "En Chile Torturan Violan y Matan" (English translation: In Chile they torture, rape and kill) on her bare chest.[29][30][31]
On 19 November 2019, Laferte was interviewed by Patricia Janiot from Univision. In that interview, Mon Laferte justified the looting and burning of numerous supermarkets and other buildings by saying that "they were only material goods". When asked if she condemned violence, she said, "I do not approve of any kind of violence. Now, if you ask me personally, if I have to go burn down a supermarket that has robbed from me my entire life to demand the basic rights I feel I deserve, I will do it!" She accused the police and armed forces of burning the dozens of subway stations that were burnt by rioters on 18 October 2019.[32]
On 30 November 2019, Laferte was subpoenaed by Chilean prosecutors to give a statement regarding the evidence she may or may not have to support her accusation that Chilean police and armed forces actively participated in the burning of subway stations. Chilean police announced that, depending upon her statement, they might press criminal charges against her.[33] The charges were later dropped.[30]
In 2021, Laferte contributed a cover of the Metallica song "Nothing Else Matters" to the charity tribute album The Metallica Blacklist.[34] In June 2022, she announced her Mexican citizenship during a press conference stating “Llevo 15 años en México, tengo un hijo mexicano, mi pareja es mexicana. Pero esto es hermoso, es la cereza del pastel!” The now Chilean Mexican singer stated that she was happy to have her new nationality since she has called Mexico her home for the past 15 years. During which time she built up and created her career as the persona we now know as Mon Laferte.
Visual arts
Mon Laferte at her solo exhibition in Mexico City
On 11 March 2020, she debuted as a visual artist in the solo exhibit entitled Gestures at the Museum of the City of Mexico, containing 76 art pieces. Laferte commented she has painted for ten years as a self-taught artist with some lessons from her father, a painter himself.[35]
In January 2023, she performed for the first time at the Olmué Huaso Festival, returning to the Patagual stage, where she had performed when she was little. On the occasion she was accompanied by the traditional Oaxacan female group Mujeres del Viento Florido in the entirety of her show, playing her greatest hits.[36] At the concert she invited the singer Chabelita Fuentes, with whom she sang "La Enagüita", a classical Chilean tune.[37] She also took the opportunity to sing "Canción sin miedo" by the Mexican singer Vivir Quintana, provoking the admiration of the public.[38]
Personal Life
She resided briefly in Los Angeles, CA in 2021. Her husband is musician, Joel Orta, who is a guitarist for the Mexican rock band, Celofán. She and Orta married in October 2022, eight months after the birth of their son. [39] Due to the radiation treatment she received in 2009 for thyroid cancer, she underwent fertility treatments in California in order to conceive her son. Although there are some English-language songs on her album, 1940 Carmen, she does not speak English fluently and instead used Google Translate to write them.[40] She is a feminist and an LGBTQ+ rights activist. [41]
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