Yuri

Yuridia Valenzuela Canseco (born, 6 January 1964), known mononymously as Yuri, is a Mexican singer, actress and television host.

Yuri began her career as a teenage singer.

Yuridia Valenzuela Canseco was born on January 6, 1964, in Veracruz.

She is the daughter of doctor Carlos Humberto Valenzuela and Dulce Canseco.

She had two siblings, Carlos (deceased) and Yamily.

During her childhood and in parallel with her training at the school in her native Veracruz, Yuri studied classical dance and won, in a competition at the age of 11, a scholarship to the Bolshoi Ballet of Russia, which she did not take advantage of because her parents prevented her.

In compensation, her mother decided to promote her as a singer.

Dulce decided to create a musical concept called La Manzana Eléctrica.

Yuri took singing classes in different spaces and the group debuted in 1976, performing in various local venues in Veracruz, where they performed covers of artists such as Michael Jackson and Janis Joplin.

Given the local success and thanks to the charisma and popularity of Yuri, the group was renamed Yuri y La Manzana Eléctrica.

It was at this stage that Yuri became friend with the popular singer Celia Cruz, since Yuri and her band used to act as support band for Cruz's performances in Veracruz.

During a presentation of the group, the director of art and repertoire, and arranger Julio Jaramillo Arenas, of the record label GAMMA, discovered the potential of the singer and proposed to record her first album.

Her mother accepted the proposal, and from that moment on she became her manager.

They moved to Mexico City, but without the financial support of the family.

Julio Jaramillo (not to be confused with the singer, Julio Jaramillo) produced her first album titled Tú Iluminas mi Vida, which included the Spanish version of You Light Up My Life, by the American singer Debby Boone, which was her first national single.

However, the album did not achieve the desired success.

In 1978 she released her first album titled Tú Iluminas mi Vida.

However, Yuri gave the opportunity to perform her first acting work in the movie Milagro en el circo (1979), starring Mexican comedian Cepillín and collaborated in the program En familia con Chabelo on the Televisa network.

In 1979, Yuri participated in the OTI Festival, in the Mexican eliminatory, and was disqualified because the theme "Siempre habrá un mañana" was an alleged plagiarism of the song "MacArthur Park" of the American singer Donna Summer.

However, the jury awarded her, by unanimous vote, the prize for the "Female revelation of the festival", in addition to being the youngest interpreter to participate in the festival.

She gained recognition as a result of her participation in the Oti Festival in 1980.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Yuri established herself as one of the most popular pop music singers in Mexico and Latin America.

Her vocal quality and versatility allow her to be incorporated into other musical genres, ranging from pop to dance, ranchera and tropical music genres.

In 1980, and also under the production of Jaramillo Arenas, Yuri recorded her second album, Esperanzas, with which she achieved her first great commercial success with the theme Esperanzas.

In that same year, she debuted as a television actress in the popular Mexican telenovela Colorina, starring Lucía Méndez, for the Televisa network.

Eventually she also acts in the telenovela Veronica, with Christian Bach.

Heralbum was also released in Central America, South America, the Caribbean and the United States.

The singles Primer amor, Goma de mascar and Regresaré be placed in the first places of popularity in all Latin America.

In 1981, she competed for the second time at the OTI Festival and won the third place in Mexico and the Award for the best female performer with the theme Deja, composed by the singer José María Napoleón.

The following year, Yuri launches her third album titled Llena de dulzura.

The album was described as a Gold Record in all Latin America, thanks to the songs "Mi timidez", "Llena de dulzura", "Tu y yo", "Este amor no se toca" and Maldita primavera (Spanish version of the song "Maledetta primavera", by Italian singer Loretta Goggi).

She also became the first Latin American singer to obtain a Gold Record in Spain.

In that same year she recorded the single "El panda de Chapultepec", dedicated to the first Panda Bear born in captivity outside of China, whose single sold over a million units and was later included in a re-issue of the album.

In the mid-1990s, Yuri put a pause on her musical career and during some years she dedicated herself to the interpretation and preaching of Christian music and gospel.

Since the mid-2000s and during this decade, Yuri has established herself as one of the most successful interpreters of Spanish music.

She has released a total of 29 studio albums and has sold more than 35 million copies worldwide.

Parallel to her role as a singer, Yuri has also ventured into acting.

She has participated in some telenovelas and films and has served as a host in some television shows in her native country.

In 2002, she returns to commercial music with much greater impact than her first season as a pop singer.

In 2018, she received the Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 19th ceremony, making her the youngest artist (at the age of 54) to win this award.