Linda Bell Viera Caballero (born March 9, 1969), known professionally as La India, is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter of salsa, house music and Latin pop. La India has been nominated for both Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, winning the Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album for the Intensamente La India Con Canciones De Juan Gabriel album.
Early life
Viera was born in Río Piedras, San Juan. Both her parents moved to New York City soon after her birth, settling in the South Bronx area of the city. Initially, they lived with Viera's grandmother, a woman who served as an important influence on Viera's life. Viera began singing as a young girl, even taking opera training for a brief time. Her stage name, La India, was given to her by her grandmother because of her dark features and long, straight, black hair.
Career
1985: Early career
In 1985, when Caballero was 16 years old, she joined the Latin freestyle group TKA, a fact not widely known. Credited as "Linda," she appeared in the group photo on the back cover of TKA's second single, "Come Get My Love." She left shortly thereafter.
Caballero signed a record contract with Reprise/Warner Bros. Records, which planned to market her as the Latin version of Madonna (who recorded for sister label Sire Records). India's debut album was titled Breaking Night. Three singles were released (“Dancing on the Fire,” “Right from the Start,” and “The Lover Who Rocks You All Night”), which all became big hits in the dance clubs. She also added her vocals to the Jellybean-produced single "Mirage". After recording the album, Caballero decided that she didn't want to take that route in her career. which was acclaimed as one of the best salsa albums of the year. From then on, Caballero became known to all as La India.
In 1994 La India, together with Louie Vega, recorded the house-music single "Love and Happiness (Yemaya y Ochún)," which paid tribute to Santería (a syncretic religion based in the Caribbean). This up-beat track was played heavily in dance clubs internationally. La India's involvement with Santería drew much criticism. Sergio George produced La India's 1994 album Dicen Que Soy, a 2× gold-certified Billboard hit that added to her legend in the Latin-American music realm.," featuring a duet with Marc Anthony. Later this same year, Combinación Perfecta was released.
In 2005, La India participated in the musical presentation Selena ¡VIVE!, a tribute to the late Tejano sensation Selena Quintanilla-Perez. In 2006, La India released the album Soy Diferente, which contained two songs that became award-winning hits. The 2007 Annual Latin Billboard Awards honored La India with Best Tropical Album of the Year Female for "Soy Diferente" (I Am Different), and Latin Dance Club Play Track of the Year for "Solamente Una Noche" (Just for One Night). In 2007, La India collaborated with Latin sensation Gloria Estefan in a duet titled "90 Millas."
La India released her ninth studio album in 2010. La India mentioned to the Associated Press, "I am reinventing myself ... changing my physical image. La India will return to become a Barbie. But more than that, I feel like a new woman because I have been blessed with many beautiful things. After many years, I have my family with me, and I am not separated from my mother, in which I suffered greatly. I have her in my life, and that brings inner peace that I haven't had in a long time."
On February 23, 2010, La India's hit single "Estupida" was released on iTunes. The single was a cover of the 2009 Italian version "Stupida" by Alessandra Amoroso. La India's ninth studio album, Unica, was released June 1, 2010.
In 2011, La India continued to release new music. She performed a duet with Issac Delgado titled "Que No Se Te Olvide." In 2011, La India released a new house track titled "Tacalacateo," on which she worked with Italian DJ Peppe Citarella. "Tacalacateo" peaked at number 13 on Billboards dance music chart.
In 2012, La India performed as part of UNITY : The Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson, along with other Latin artists such as Tito Nieves and Kevin Ceballo.
In 2014, La India once again signed with the record label Top Stop Music, also joining the Salsa Giants project with Sergio George. La India released her tenth studio salsa album "Intensamente Con Canciones de Juan Gabriel" on Top Stop Music in 2015. It includes duets and solo pieces by both artists. This album was number one on Billboard's tropical chart for a consecutive four weeks. One song in particular, "Ahora Que Te Vas" quickly rose to number one on Billboard's tropical chart. With this song, La India became the Latino woman with the most-ever number ones, a record previously held by Gloria Estefan.
In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked La India at number 113 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.
Discography
Studio albums
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2" | Year
! rowspan="2" width="265" | Title
! colspan="4" | Peak chart positions
! rowspan="2" | Certifications
|-
! style="width:3em;font-size:85%" | US<br>
! style="width:3em;font-size:85%" | US Tropical
! style="width:3em;font-size:85%" | US Latin
! style="width:3em;font-size:85%" | Heatseekers
- With Issac Delgado
- 2011 – Maxi single "Que No Se Te Olvide"
- With Peppe Citarella
- 2011 – Maxi single "Tacalacateo"
- With Tito Rojas
- 2011 – "Maldito y Bendito Amor" (Salsa version)
- 2011 – "Maldito y Bendito Amor" (Ballad version)
- ' 2013 – "Tu no tienes alma" (from the "Y Si Fueran Ellas" albuml)
- With Sergio George's Salsa Giants
- 2014 – "Bajo La Tormenta" (from Sergio George Presents: Salsa Giants Plus)
- With Tony Succar – Unity the Latin Tribute to Michael Jackson
- 2015 – "Earth song"
- With Tony Succar - Mimy Y Tony
- 2023 - "Sin Fronteras"
Awards and nominations
Latin Grammy
|-
| 2016
| Intensamente con Canciones de Juan Gabriel
| Best Salsa Album
|
|-
Lo Nuestro Awards
|-
| 2004
| La India (herself)
| Tropical Female Artist
|
|-
| 2004
| La India (herself)
| Best Salsa Performance
|
|-
| 2004
| Seduceme
| Best Tropical Song
|
|-
| 2004
| Mi Alma Y Corazon
| Best Tropical Album
|
|-
| 2005
| La India (herself)
| Female Artist Of The Year
|
|-
| 2007
| Soy Diferente
| Best Tropical Album
|
|-
| 2007
| La India (herself)
| Female Artist Of The Year
|
|-
| 2007
| La India & Cheka
| Group Or Duo Of The Year
|
|-
| 2011
| La India (herself)
| Female Artist Of The Year
|
|-
| 2011
| Estupida
| Best Tropical Song
|
|-
| 2016
| La India (herself)
| Female Artist Of The Year
|
|-
Billboard Latin Music Awards
|-
| 2003
| Latin Songbird: Mi Alma Y Corazon
| Tropical Album Of The Year
|
|-
| 2004
| La India (Herself)
| Seduceme (Remix)
|
|-
| 2006
| Grandes Exitos
| Tropical Album Of The Year
|
|-
| 2007
| Soy Diferente
| Tropical Album Of The Year
|
|-
| 2007
| Pura Salsa
| Tropical Album Of The Year
|
|-
See also
- List of Puerto Ricans
- Nuyorican
- Puerto Ricans in New York City