Vikki Carr
Florencia Vicenta de Casillas-Martinez Cardona, known by her stage name Vikki Carr, is an American vocalist. She has a singing career that spans more than six decades.
Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican parents, she has performed in a variety of musical genres, including pop, jazz and country, while her greatest success has come from singing in Spanish. She established the Vikki Carr Scholarship Foundation in 1971. Vikki Carr has won three Grammys and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008 at the 9th Annual Latin Grammy Awards.
Career
Florencia Vicenta de Casillas-Martinez Cardona was born in El Paso, Texas, on July 19, 1940. In 1958, she graduated from Rosemead High School in Rosemead, California, in a class that included famed fashion designer Bob Mackie. Under the stage name "Vikki Carr" she signed with Liberty Records in 1962. Her first single to achieve success was "He's a Rebel", which in 1962 reached No. 3 in Australia and No. 115 in the United States. Producer Phil Spector heard Carr cutting the song in the studio and immediately produced his own cover version with the Blossoms which reached No. 1 in the United States. In 1966, Carr toured South Vietnam with actor/comedian Danny Kaye to entertain American troops. The following year, her album It Must Be Him was nominated for three Grammy Awards. The title track reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in 1967, sold more than 1 million copies and received a gold disc.Carr followed with two US Top 40 hits: 1968's "The Lesson" and 1969's "With Pen in Hand". Around this time, Dean Martin called her "the best girl singer in the business." In total, Carr had 10 singles and 13 albums that made the US pop charts.
In 1968, Carr taped six specials for London Weekend TV. She made frequent appearances on various television programs, such as ABC's The Bing Crosby Show in the 1964–1965 season. She appeared on The Carol Burnett Show in 1969. In 1970, she was named "Woman of the Year" by the Los Angeles Times. A favourite of Johnny Carson's, she appeared more than 30 times on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, even hosting on occasion.
She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1981. Carr also achieved the rare feat of singing for five presidents during her career: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Bill Clinton. The bi-cultural nature of her career has included recording with Vicente Fernandez and Pepe Aguilar while the likes of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin were friends.
File:Photograph of Vikki Carr Performing in the East Room during the Entertainment Portion of a State Dinner Honoring Chancellor Bruno Kreisky of Austria - NARA - 7462070.jpg|thumb|Carr performing in the East Room of the White House during a November 1974 state dinner
In the 1980s and 1990s, Carr had enormous success in the Latin music world, winning Grammy Awards for Best Mexican-American Performance in 1986 for her album Simplemente Mujer, Best Latin Pop Album in 1992 for Cosas del Amor and Best Mexican-American Performance in 1995 for Recuerdo a Javier Solís. She also received Grammy nominations for the discs Brindo a La Vida, Al Bolero, A Ti and Emociones. Her numerous Spanish-language hit singles include "Total", "Discúlpame", "Déjame", "Hay Otro en Tu Lugar", "Esos Hombres", "Mala Suerte" and "Cosas del Amor". "Cosas del Amor" spent more than two months at No. 1 on the US Latin charts in 1991, her biggest Spanish-language US hit. Her Spanish-language albums have been certified gold and platinum in Mexico, Chile, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Colombia and Ecuador. She also voiced Georgette in the Latin American dub of Disney's Oliver & Company.
In 1999, Carr taped a PBS TV special, Vikki Carr: Memories, Memorias, in which she performed popular bilingual tunes from the 1940s and 1950s. Her guests were Arturo Sandoval and Jack Jones. In 2001, she released a bilingual holiday album, The Vikki Carr Christmas Album.
Carr appeared to great acclaim in a 2002 Los Angeles production of the Stephen Sondheim musical Follies, which also featured Hal Linden, Patty Duke and Harry Groener. In 2006, Carr made a cameo appearance in a straight-to-video thriller called Puerto Vallarta Squeeze. Carr hosted a PBS TV special in 2008, Fiesta Mexicana, which celebrated the music and dance of Mexico. Later that year she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Recording Academy. Carr marked the occasion with an appearance on the Latin Grammy telecast, in which she performed "Cosas del Amor" with Olga Tañón and Jenni Rivera.
In 2014, Carr was invited by producer Gerry Gallagher to record with Latin rock legends El Chicano, Alphonse Mouzon, Brian Auger, Alex Ligertwood, Salvador Santana, Ray Parker Jr., Lenny Castro, Siedah Garrett, Walfredo Reyes Jr., Pete Escovedo, Peter Michael Escovedo, Jessy J, Marcos J. Reyes and David Paich, and is featured on a remake of the Latin classic "Sabor A Mi" from a 2019 Gallagher studio album. In August, she headlined a benefit in El Paso for the Walmart shooting victims of the 2019 El Paso shooting.
Personal life
Carr has been married three times, first to producer and entertainment attorney Dann Moss, then paint company executive Michael Nilsson. She was married to San Antonio, Texas physician Pedro De Leon from 1993 until his death in 2019.Charitable work
Carr devotes time to charities including the United Way, the American Lung Association, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. For 22 years, she hosted benefit concerts to support Holy Cross of San Antonio Middle and High School in San Antonio, Texas. In 1971, she established the Vikki Carr Scholarship Foundation dedicated to offering college scholarships to Hispanic students in California and Texas.Discography
Albums
Singles
1960s and 1970s
- Years represent year of release, not necessarily the chart peak year.
| Year | Titles Both sides from same album except where indicated | US 100 | US CB | US AC | UK | AUS | Original Source |
| 1962 | "I'll Walk the Rest Of The Way" b/w "Beside A Bridge " | - | - | - | - | - | Non-album tracks |
| 1962 | "He's A Rebel" b/w "Be My Love" | 115 | 102 | - | - | 3 | Non-album tracks |
| 1963 | "The Rose and Butterfly" b/w "From Nine To Five" | - | - | - | - | - | Non-album tracks |
| 1963 | "San Francisco" b/w "Look Again" | - | - | - | - | - | Color Her Great |
| 1963 | "Medley: Poor Butterfly/Stay" b/w "The Right Kind Of Man" | - | - | - | - | - | Discovery! |
| 1964 | "Forget You" b/w "Her Little Heart Went To Loveland" | - | - | - | - | - | It Must Be Him |
| 1965 | "Busca Ese Camino" b/w "No Seas Asi" | - | - | - | - | - | Non-album tracks |
| 1965 | "The Color Of Love" b/w "There Goes My Heart" | - | - | - | - | - | Unforgettable |
| 1965 | "Unforgettable" b/w "Theme From Peyton Place" | - | - | - | - | - | Unforgettable |
| 1965 | "I Only Have Eyes For You" b/w "None But The Lonely Heart" | - | - | - | - | - | Anatomy Of Love |
| 1966 | "The Silencers" b/w "Santiago" | - | - | - | - | - | Non-album track |
| 1966 | "Heartaches" b/w "True Love's A Blessing" | - | - | - | - | - | Anatomy Of Love |
| 1966 | "My Heart Reminds Me" b/w "Can I Trust You" | - | 127 | 31 | - | - | The Way Of Today! |
| 1966 | "Summer Samba " b/w "It Must Be Him" | - | - | 32 | - | - | Unforgettable |
| 1966 | "Until Today" / | - | - | 39 | - | - | Non-album track |
| 1966 | "Now I Know The Feeling" | - | - | 28 | - | - | Unforgettable |
| 1967 | "Sunshine" b/w "Fly Away" | - | - | - | - | - | The Very Best Of Vikki Carr |
| 1967 | "There I Go" b/w "One More Mountain" UK release only | - | - | - | 50 | - | Vikki! |
| 1967 | "It Must Be Him" b/w "That's All" | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | It Must Be Him |
| 1968 | "The Lesson" b/w "One More Mountain" | 34 | 35 | 1 | - | 44 | Vikki! |
| 1968 | "She'll Be There" / | 99 | 92 | 13 | - | - | Don't Break My Pretty Balloon |
| 1968 | "Your Heart is Free Just Like the Wind" | 91 | - | 32 | - | - | Don't Break My Pretty Balloon |
| 1968 | "Don't Break My Pretty Balloon" b/w "Nothing To Lose" | 114 | 103 | 7 | - | - | Don't Break My Pretty Balloon |
| 1968 | "A Dissatisfied Man" b/w "Happy Together" | - | - | 18 | - | - | The Ways To Love A Man |
| 1968 | "With Pen In Hand" | 35 | 42 | 6 | 39 | - | For Once In My Life |
| 1969 | "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" | - | - | - | - | - | It Must Be Him |
| 1969 | "Eternity" b/w "I Will Wait For Love" | 79 | 69 | 5 | - | - | The Best Of Vikki Carr |
| 1970 | "Singing My Song" b/w "Make It Rain" | - | - | 30 | - | - | Nashville by Carr |
| 1970 | "I'll Be Home" b/w "Call My Heart Your Home" | 96 | 117 | 7 | - | - | Vikki Carr's Love Story |
| 1971 | "Six Weeks Every Summer " b/w "If You Could Read My Mind" | - | - | 28 | - | - | - |
| 1971 | "I Can't Give Back the Love I Feel for You" b/w "I've Never Been A Woman Before" | - | 103 | - | - | - | Superstar |
| 1971 | "I'd Do It All Again" b/w "I'm Gonna Love You" | - | 102 | 39 | - | - | Superstar |
| 1972 | "The Big Hurt" b/w "Cabaret" | 108 | - | 31 | - | - | Non-album track |
| 1972 | "Grande, Grande, Grande" b/w "Y Volvere" | - | - | - | - | - | Los Exitos De Hoy Y De Siempre |
| 1972 | "Let the Band Play On" b/w "Reflections" | - | - | - | - | - | Non-album tracks |
| 1973 | "Ms. America" b/w "We Didn't Know The Time Of Day" | - | - | - | - | - | Ms. America |
| 1973 | "Leave A Little Room" b/w "Have You Heard The News" | - | - | - | - | - | Live At The Greek Theatre |
| 1974 | "Sleeping Between Two People" b/w "Borrowed Time" | - | - | - | - | - | One Hell Of A Woman |
| 1974 | "Wind Me Up" b/w "One Hell of a Woman" | - | - | 45 | - | - | One Hell Of A Woman |
| 1975 | "Hoy" b/w "El Pajaro Herido" | - | - | - | - | - | Hoy |
| 1975 | "Puttin' Myself In Your Hands" b/w "I Don't Want A Sometimes Man" | - | - | - | - | - | Non-album tracks |