Altagracia Ugalde Motta (born 10 January 1971), better known as Ana Bárbara, is a Mexican singer. She has become a prominent figure within Latin entertainment since her professional debut in 1994 and is one of the leading female figures in regional Mexican and grupero music.
In the past two decades, Bárbara has released eleven studio albums, eighteen compilation albums, over thirty music videos, and four music video DVDs. She has sold over 6 million records in Mexico, Central America, South America, and the United States; she is also the recipient of Latin music's most prestigious accolades.Ana Bárbara Biography Official Website
Career
Early career In 1988, Ana Bárbara entered the local Miss Universe-sponsored Miss Mexico beauty pageant representing her native state of San Luis Potosí and won; however, she lost at the national level. By then, an unknown Altagracia Ugalde moved forward and began to seize any opportunity to sing at local talent shows, and at times professionally at variety of music events and festivals. In the 1990s she had the opportunity to tour overseas in Colombia and represent Mexico's mariachi music.[ Ana Bárbara AllMusic Bio]
In 1993, Ana Bárbara was proclaimed the Ambassador of Ranchera Music. She also earned the El Rostro Bonito de El Heraldo de México ("The Heraldo's Beautiful Face") award. As a result, she was invited to perform for Pope John Paul II during a Mass at The Vatican. When Mass neared its close; however, she still hadn't been given an opportunity to sing, so she interrupted the proceedings, commanded the attention of the Pope, and began to sing. After mass Pope John Paul II approached her, blessed her, and wished her luck in her career. In 1994, she was noticed by record executives from Fonovisa, one of the top labels in the regional Mexican market. After signing with Fonovisa, she created artistic stage name "Ana Bárbara" and launched her self-titled debut album Ana Bárbara. Songs like Sacúdeme and Nada helped Bárbara establish herself as a Grupero star. Bárbara released her second album titled La Trampa in July 1995, also produced by Aníbal Pastor. La Trampa catapulted her popularity and immediately became a commercial and radio hit. Bárbara received industry accolades as well as invitations to tour and open for some of the biggest regional Mexican artists, such as Vicente Fernandez and Los Tigres del Norte. She has appeared on important Latin American television shows such as Sabado Gigante and Siempre en Domingo. Consecutive hits and popular music videos, such as Me Asusta Pero Me Gusta and La Trampa, topped Billboard Hot Latin Tracks and established her as La Reina Grupera (The Queen of Grupero Music).
International stardom By the summer of 1996, Ana Bárbara broke through to mainstream international success with third album Ay, Amor. The album solidified her as a successful Latin recording artist and also became her best album debut on the Latin Billboard charts.Ana Bárbara, bárbaramente sensual . Terra.com. Retrieved on 2012-12-22. Ay, Amor offered a wider appeal to her music by offering some alternate takes on Grupero, and even some ranchero flavoured ballads like No Ha Sido Facil, and Entre Ella y Yo. Her attractive appearance and sensual dancing style captivated Latin America audiences during promotional tours with hit singles and music videos of No Lloraré and Ya No Te Creo Nada. In 1997 she released her first and only calendar. Coors Light beer also selected Bárbara as their Hispanic promotional figure for marketing and advertising. Later that year she returned to Miami, Florida for the annual Calle 8 Music Festival where she was crowned "Queen" of the 1997 parade. In 1998, she released her fourth studio album produced by Mexican singer-songwriter Marco Antonio Solís. The album, titled Los Besos No Se Dan En La Camisa, was largely a ballads album with only one Grupero-style song. It included a duet and background vocals by Solís, as well as a 1982 Los Bukis cover of "Como Me Haces Falta", which quickly became a popular hit. The song also dominated airwaves across Latin America, Mexico, and the United States. Bárbara kept up the momentum of her previous release as her popularity continued to grow. In 1999, she released fifth studio album Tu Decisión, produced by Aníbal Pastor. One of his two songwriting credits, "Engañada", became the album's lead single and most popular hit. Tu Decisión was also notable in songwriting terms because it marked Bárbara's debut as a songwriter. In the same year she also debuted as an actress, starring in the made-for-TV film Todo Contigo, via Hispanic networks Televisa and Univision. The film's song "Todo Contigo" was included in album Tu Decisión. Music videos like "Quise Olvidar" grew in popularity on television shows like Onda Max and other music video television networks. The following year Bárbara became the first solo grupero act recognized by The Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences for album Tu Decisión, which received a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Grupero Album.
In 2000, Ana Bárbara took a short maternity leave when her first child, Emiliano, was born. She returned in 2001 with her sixth studio album, Te Regalo La Lluvia. The Mariachi-ballad effort was a challenge to her custom Grupero style; however, industry critics who had written off Bárbara as simply "a grupero novelty built chiefly upon sex appeal" consequently took her and her music a bit more seriously. In the fall, she received her second Latin Grammy nomination for Best Ranchero Album. She participated in "El Último Adiós (The Last Goodbye)", a song written in memory of the 9/11 attacks, which included other artists, such as Alejandro Fernández, Marco Antonio Solís, Thalía, and Ricky Martin, among others. As Bárbara promoted her album, Te Regalo La Lluvia, she began preparations for a Grupero-style album.
After several years as a recording artist, Ana Bárbara began to produce her own material. She took control of the direction of her music and began to compose, arrange, and select her own lyrics and melodies, yet followed patterns of earlier albums.
In September 2003, Te Atraparé...Bandido was released; it became one of her most successful albums to date. Soon record executives pushed for a follow-up album, and in May 2005 she produced and released Loca de Amar. She continued booking success with popular chart-topping singles like Bandido, Deja, Loca, and Lo Busqué, which dominated airwaves across South America, Mexico, and the United States, as well as on Billboard Hot Latin Tracks.
Selena tribute concert In 2005, she participated in Selena ¡VIVE!, an anniversary tribute concert held in honour of Latin music icon Selena. The star-studded event was held on 7 April 2005, at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas and included mainstream acts, such as Thalía, Ana Gabriel, Alejandra Guzman, Olga Tañón, Pepe Aguilar, and Banda el Recodo, among others. The iconic tribute was produced by Spanish-language network Univision, and made history by becoming the most watched Spanish-language television special in the US. Bárbara produced and co-wrote a new version of "La Carcacha", which mixed Selena's original version with her Grupero signature style.
2005 Latin Grammy recognition
In 2005 Ana Bárbara was awarded a Latin Grammy Award for Best Grupero Album for her album, Loca de Amar at the 6th Annual Latin Grammy ceremony held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. This was also Bárbara's Grammy ceremony debut where she performed a medley of Lo Busqué and Loca.Fonovisa Superstar Recording Artists’ Banda El Recodo and Barbara Earn a Latin Grammy Award. Univision Press Release (2005-04-11)
When her career was in its peak popularity she put her career on hold for several years in order to dedicate time to her new family. She also relocated to the popular resort city of Cancún, Mexico with new husband Pirru and their three children. Her second child, José María, was born in the fall of 2006. During her "time-off," she joined the food-industry business. In 2008, Ana Bárbara opened a nightclub Bandido located in Cancún. It was sold to a business investor a year later.
2008 and 2009 In 2008, Ana Bárbara appeared in a concert tribute for José José, performing his hit Lo Pasado, Pasado.Ana Bárbara: Tributo a José José . Univision.com. Retrieved on 2012-12-22.
In April 2009, she was featured on the cover of People en Español on the "Los 50 Más Bellos" list."Los 50 más Bellos 2009" People en Español:
Return to recording and Fonovisa departure Several compilation albums and DVDs were released during her time off, such as Una Mujer, Un Sueño and Para Ti, Mi Historia. Compilation albums featuring peers such as Alicia Villarreal, Jennifer Pena, and Selena, were also released by record label Fonovisa. After taking nearly five years off from recording, Ana Bárbara remained a favourite in the music industry. AllMusic.com said: "She has not only dominated the Grupero movement, but Ana Bárbara is one of the driving forces behind the Grupero-style realization." During the pre-planning and creative realization of album Rompiendo Cadenas, she began to deviate from her Grupero beginnings and slowly traversed into Latin Pop. This musical change became evident in the fall of 2009 with the release of Rompiendo Cadenas; an uptempo Urban/Pop track, produced by Dominican duo Luny Tunes featuring Reggaeton duo Dyland & Lenny.Ana Bárbara New Release: Rompiendo Cadenas The music video for Rompiendo Cadenas was filmed in La Habana, Cuba and quickly reached over four million views on YouTube. Rompiendo Cadenas debuted at number 39 on Billboard Latin Pop Songs on 12 November 2009.[ Ana Bárbara Music News & Billboard Chart Information]. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2012-12-22. Two alternate versions of the song "Rompiendo Cadenas" premiered on iTunes, one in banda and another in acoustic. Bárbara introduced her Latin pop album Rompiendo Cadenas in January 2010. During its press conference, she described the departure with label Fonovisa Records. Not only did the album Rompiendo Cadenas reveal a completely different genre, but she was also sole songwriter of the 10-track album, a challenge she had never experimented with.Ana Bárbara Rompiendo Cadenas Radio Notas Furthermore, Fonovisa Records request to reconsider and change the music style or terminate the contract.Ana Bárbara regresa con álbum pop. Noticias.aol.com. Retrieved on 2012-12-22. Ana Bárbara left Fonovisa after increasing problems and immediately launched Rompiendo Cadenas on her own record label AB Productions / (Lo Busqué Productions).