Verónica Castro

Acting and music career

Castro recorded her first album in 1973, a self-titled album(Veronica Castro), And Then releasing three hit singles from Her Next Album "Sensaciones"; these were "Mi Pequeño Ciclón," "Soy Celosa," and "Yo Quisiera Señor Locutor." The following year, she recorded another hit record with "Aprendí A Llorar," and famed Mexican producer, composer and singer Juan Gabriel penned the hit single "Adios" especially for her, which became very popular.

After appearing in a series of films and telenovelas (El Edificio de Enfrente in 1972 and Barata de Primavera in 1975, among others) her career took off with Los ricos también lloran, playing a poor orphan, with Rogelio Guerra and Rocío Banquells. This telenovela became a success in Latin America, Spain, Croatia, Italy, France, Israel, Russia, China,Germany and the Philippines. The success of this story brought her newfound fame with her single, "Aprendí A Llorar." The following hit was "San Francisco De Asis."

Two years later she played the main role in the telenovela version of El derecho de nacer. Because of her expanding fame as a world artist, she started recording her music in different languages and began to tour the world and perform in diverse venues; she also started recording in Italian, English, Portuguese, and Japanese.

In 1986, she performed in the Latin version of "We Are The World." She also released one of her most ambitious albums to date, Simplemente Todo. The top-selling singles from Simplemente Todo were "Oye Tu," the title selection, "Nunca Lo Sabra," and "Macumba." Unlike other artists of the time, however, Castro accompanied her singles with videos, becoming one of the pioneers of the MTV age in Latin America. Even as she recorded the music video "Macumba," she worked in telenovelas in Argentina and Italy.

In 1987, her career got a huge boost internationally when she played the main character in Rosa salvaje, alongside Guillermo Capetillo and Laura Zapata. The theme song for that telenovela, also named "Rosa salvaje," became one of her biggest hits. As her CD, "Reina de la noche," topped the charts and her soap opera became one of the world's best selling stories to date, she released another #1 single, "Mala noche no."

In 1990 Castro participated in Mi pequeña Soledad alongside Omar Fierro and July Furlong, where she had to play both a 40-year-old victim of rape who became pregnant and later was paralyzed in a car crash, and her 20-year-old daughter, the "Soledad" of the title, who was the product of the rape. Castro recorded the hit song "Mi Pequeña Soledad" and it became a worldwide phenomenon. The ballad opened new markets and became her theme song. In the same year, she commenced to host the television series, La Movida, which was sung also in Italian and English. After the success of the single a maxi-single and 12" mix were leaked to radio and clubs. In 1993, she starred in the unsuccessful telenovela Valentina with Juan Ferrara and the "Queen of Salsa," Celia Cruz.

In 1997 Castro re-emerged successfully with a new CD and a new television show. The CD was produced by A.B. Quintanilla, famed for his production of all the CD recordings of his daughter Selena. In that year, Castro also filmed the most controversial music video in her career, "Pena De Amor Y Muerte." The video included some nudity, and the song was featured on the soundtrack of the telenovela Pueblo chico, Infierno grande. The story line, from the early nineteenth century, was based on a real life drama, the story of Leonarda Ruan. Other cast members were Juan Soler and Alma Delfina. She incorporated regional Mexican music, rancheras, pop, dance-techno, country and hip hop beats.

In 1999 Castro recorded her last pop CD, Ave Vagabundo, by famed composer and producer Ana Gabriel. She included several dance mixes of her hit singles "Sacudelo" and "Zumbalo." Castro toured various countries in support of this CD, whose biggest successes included Argentina, Italy and America.

During the 1990s she began hosting variety shows, and has continued to do so since. Her son, Cristian, is a teen idol singer across Latin America and the United States, She and Christian's father, Manuel Valdés, have never married. Castro's private life has become fodder for paparazzi photographers and gossip magazines.

In 2006 she recorded Por Esa Puerta. For the first time it was released only in Mexico, becoming a best-seller internationally. It was only available through the Internet and importation of the CD. When the CD arrived in the United States, it became the most sought-after CD in her career. Castro has never had a barrier in what musical direction she takes, and thus she has covered a wide array of styles, from pop/rock, Mexican regional country music-rancheras, boleros, and banda/norteno to Spanish, Portuguese, English, and Italian. "Por Esa Puerta" did not prove to be a disappointment to fans because it neglected some markets, but it broadened the regional Mexican country music to other pop lovers as Alejandro Fernandez or Pepe Aguilar have done successfully.

In 2008 Verónica Castro returned to the stage with Chiquita Pero Picosa, a remake of a production in which she had appeared in the 1980s. She also filmed an episode of "Mujeres Asesinas," in which she played a killer. The episode was critically acclaimed.

In 2009 Verónica Castro went back to telenovelas, and left her native Mexico for Argentina to film the telenovela Los Exitosos Pérez. It premiered in Mexico on August 30, 2009.

For her work in television, theater, movies and in the recording industry, Castro's handprints are imbedded at the Paseo de las Luminarias in Mexico City.

In 2016, Verónica Castro returns to center stage with the all-time Broadway classic, 'Applause' inspired on the film, "All About Eve". This international hit is presented for the first time in Mexico under the production of Fela Fabregas at Teatro San Rafael. Verónica is sensational as Margo Channing in "Aplauso".