Lali

Mariana Espósito, whose stage name is Lali Esposito, is an award-winning, best-selling Argentine actress turned pop singer. Lali was born in 1991 in the Parque Patricios neighborhood of Buenos Aires to María José Riera and Carlos Esposito. She began her career at age 12 in the children's TV series Rincón de Luz, created by producer Cris Morena. Between 2004 and 2005, she played the role of Roberta in the children's telenovela Floricienta, and a year later, played Agustina Ross in the children's series Chiquititas Sin Fin, which was broadcast on the Telefe channel. She also participated in the theatrical adaptations of her previous series. In the year 2007 she played the role of Marianella "Mar" Rinaldi in Casi Angeles, a juvenile series that was aired until 2010 on Telefe and was broadcast in several countries. The actress also participated in the theatrical adaptations of the same program. Lali's first try at music was as part of the Teen Angels, a band that originated in the Casi Ángeles series. The group toured Latin America, Spain, and Israel and issued five full-length albums between 2007 and 2012, as well as two compilations -- all were certified gold or platinum. While pursuing music she continued to act. In 2011, Lali performed in the telenovela Cuando Me Sonreís by Tomás Yankelevich. A year later, while still in Teen Angels, she made her film debut in La Fega de Mi Vida. She also expanded her portfolio to include the theater: She played Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's The Witches of Salem. In January 2013, she began acting in the television comedy Solamente Vos and released her debut solo album, La Bailar, the same year. While it didn't attain the same sales success as her recordings with Teen Angels, it charted in the upper rungs at home and won several airplay awards across Latin America. She followed it with the 2014 EP Asesina, produced by Pablo Akselrad, Luis Burgio, and Gustavo Novello. It wove together radio-friendly pop, dance music, and hip-hop and again landed on the upper rungs of the pop charts in Argentina and throughout South America. She also performed as the opening act for Ricky Martin's annual charity event. In 2015, Lali toured in support of her albums -- and as an opener for Perry's The Prismatic World Tour, and began a two-year run starring in the telenovela Esperanza Mía. The following year she starred in Ariel Winogrand's comedy feature film Permitidos; its rights were acquired by Disney. In July 2016, she issued her second full-length, Soy, which attained gold status and hit number two at pop in Argentina. She toured with Fifth Harmony and Martin. The following year she undertook the beginning of her own two-year Lali en Vivo tour. She issued a pre-release single, "Una Na in July," and in November made her debut concert performance at Luna Park. She followed it with second single "Tu Novia" the same month, and in December, on Christmas day, released "Tu Sonrisa," which hit the top spot on Argentina's singles charts. In February, she was featured on Mau y Ricky and Karol G's hit remix of "Mi Mala," with Becky G and Leslie Grace. On April 13, her third pre-release single, "100 Grados," a duet with Peruvian hip-hop singer A.Chal, was released and again placed in Argentina's Top Five. Her third album, Brava, was scheduled for an August release, to be followed by another tour. ~ Thom Jurek