La India

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4 Feb 2024

La India

Linda Bell Viera Caballero, known professionally as La India, was born on March 9, 1969. She is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter known for her contributions to salsa, house music, and Latin pop. La India has received nominations for both Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards throughout her career. Notably, she won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album for her work on the album "Intensamente La India Con Canciones De Juan Gabriel." La India's versatile talent and contributions to Latin music have earned her recognition and acclaim in the industry.

Linda Bell Viera was born in Río Piedras, San Juan. Following her birth, her parents relocated to New York City, specifically to the South Bronx area. Initially, they resided with Viera's grandmother, who played a significant role in shaping Viera's upbringing. From a young age, Viera showed a passion for singing and even received opera training for a brief period. Her grandmother bestowed upon her the stage name "La India" due to her dark complexion and long, straight, black hair. La India has described herself as a feminist, influenced by her observations of domestic violence perpetrated by her father.

In 1985, at the age of 16, Caballero became a member of the Latin freestyle group TKA, although this fact was 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." However, she left the group shortly thereafter.

After departing from TKA, Caballero signed a record contract with Reprise/Warner Bros. Records, who aimed to market her as the Latin equivalent of Madonna, who was recording for the sister label Sire Records at the time. Caballero's debut album was titled Breaking Night. Several singles from the album, including “Dancing on the Fire,” “Right from the Start,” and “The Lover Who Rocks You All Night,” became popular hits in the dance clubs. Additionally, she contributed her vocals to the Jellybean-produced single "Mirage." Despite initial success in the dance music scene, Caballero ultimately decided to transition to salsa music because she felt the need to connect more deeply with her cultural roots and "cross over to [her] people."

An important turning point occurred when Caballero accompanied her husband "Little" Louie Vega to a studio session. Salsa bandleader Eddie Palmieri happened to visit the studio and was impressed by Caballero's singing. In 1992, Palmieri produced Caballero's first Spanish-language salsa album titled Llego La India via Eddie Palmieri (The India has Arrived via Eddie Palmieri), which received critical acclaim as one of the best salsa albums of the year.

Following this collaboration, Caballero became universally known as La India. She received a Lo Nuestro Award nomination in 1993 for Best Female Performer, Tropical/Salsa.
In 1994, La India collaborated with Louie Vega to record the house-music single "Love and Happiness" (Yemaya y Ochún), which paid tribute to Santería, a syncretic religion based in the Caribbean. This upbeat track gained significant popularity in dance clubs worldwide, although La India's involvement with Santería attracted criticism.

Sergio George produced La India's 1994 album Dicen Que Soy, which achieved 2× gold certification and became a Billboard hit, further solidifying her reputation in the Latin-American music scene. The album featured her rendition of Cuba’s Adalberto Alvarez Y Su Son’s hit song "Vivir Lo Nuestro," featuring a duet with Marc Anthony. Additionally, in the same year, Combinación Perfecta was released, showcasing La India's versatility and expanding her musical repertoire.

Throughout her career, La India has been a prolific artist, making significant contributions to various genres of music. In 1996, she collaborated with Tito Puente on Jazzin, an album of swing classics with a Latin twist. Additionally, she contributed the song "Banderas" to the multi-artist tribute album Voces Unidas, dedicated to the 1996 Summer Olympics. La India also released India: Mega Mix and sang a duet titled "La Voz de la Experiencia" with Celia Cruz, earning her the title of "La India, the Princess of Salsa" from Cruz herself.

In 1997, La India recorded "Sobre el Fuego" with Kevin Ceballo, which received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Latin Tropical Performance. The following year, she won an ACE Award for her contributions to music.

La India's sold-out concerts in Puerto Rico in 1998 marked a significant milestone in her career, followed by performances in New York's Madison Square Garden and El Festival de la Calle Ocho in Miami, Florida. In 1999, she released the album Sola, which garnered positive reviews for its single "Sola" and covers of hits by La Lupe.

In the early 2000s, La India continued to receive acclaim, earning Grammy Award nominations and features in prominent publications like Vibe Magazine. Her album Latin Songbird: Mi Alma y Corazón, released in 2003, produced the hit single "Sedúceme," her first number-one song. This album brought her numerous awards and nominations, including Latin Grammy nominations.

La India's versatility was evident in her participation in the musical tribute Selena ¡VIVE! in 2005 and the release of her album Soy Diferente in 2006, which produced award-winning hits. She collaborated with Gloria Estefan in 2007 on the duet "90 Millas."
In 2006, La India was honored with a star on the Walk of Fame in Union City, New Jersey. Her continued success led to the release of her ninth studio album, Unica, in 2010.

In subsequent years, La India remained active in the music industry, releasing new tracks and collaborating with various artists. Notably, in 2014, she signed with Top Stop Music and joined the Salsa Giants project with Sergio George. Her tenth studio album, "Intensamente Con Canciones de Juan Gabriel," released in 2015, topped Billboard's tropical chart and solidified her status as a leading figure in Latin music.

La India's enduring impact on the music industry was recognized by Rolling Stone in 2023, as they ranked her at number 113 on their list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.