Marc Anthony

Marco Antonio Muñiz, professionally known as Marc Anthony, is an American singer and actor born on September 16, 1968, in the Manhattan borough of New York City. Raised in East Harlem as the youngest of eight Catholic children, he was named after a Mexican singer of the same name. His father, Felipe, a hospital cafeteria worker and musician, and his mother, Guillermina Quiñones, a housewife, guided his early musical education in both Spanish and English. Growing up, Anthony listened to rock, rhythm and blues, pop, and traditional salsa artists.

Anthony began his music career in New York as a session vocalist and songwriter for freestyle and house music acts, working with groups such as Menudo and the Latin Rascals. He released his debut freestyle record, Rebel, in 1988 and collaborated on several dance tracks with producers Little Louie Vega and Todd Terry. After opening for bandleader Tito Puente at Madison Square Garden in 1992, Anthony shifted his musical direction toward salsa and other Latin genres.

In 1993, Anthony released his Spanish-language salsa debut, Otra Nota, on RMM Records, inspired by Juan Gabriel's song Hasta Que Te Conocí. His 1995 follow-up album, Todo a Su Tiempo, won a Billboard Award for Hot Tropical Artist of the Year. His next Spanish-language record, Contra La Corriente, yielded his first Billboard Hot Latin Tracks number-one single, Y Hubo Alguien, and earned him a Grammy Award for Best Latin Tropical Performance.

In 1999, Anthony achieved crossover success in the Anglophone market with his self-titled English-language album, which featured the US Top 5 single I Need to Know and reached triple-platinum status in the United States. Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, he recorded albums across multiple genres, including Libre (2001), Amar Sin Mentiras (2004), Valió La Pena (2004), and 3.0 (2013). The lead single from 3.0, Vivir Mi Vida, spent 18 consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard charts and won a Latin Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

Anthony has also pursued an acting career across film, television, and stage. His film credits include roles in Carlito's Way (1993), Hackers (1995), Big Night (1996), Bringing Out the Dead (1999), Man on Fire (2004), El Cantante (2007), and the movie musical In the Heights. He performed in Paul Simon's 1998 Broadway musical The Capeman, guest-starred on the television series HawthoRNe, and co-created the talent search series Q'Viva! The Chosen.

Anthony is recognized as the top-selling salsa artist of all time, having sold over 12 million albums worldwide. His awards include four Grammy Awards, eight Latin Grammy Awards, twenty-nine Lo Nuestro Awards, and twelve Billboard Latin Music Awards. He was inducted into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2012, honored as the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year in 2016, and listed among Rolling Stone's 200 Greatest Singers of All Time in 2023. His business and philanthropic endeavors include minority ownership of the Miami Dolphins, founding Magnus Media, and establishing the Maestro Cares Foundation.