Olga Tañón

After establishing herself as one of the top merengue superstars of the 1990s, Olga Tañón broadened her style to include not only tropical music but also Latin pop, and while some of her crossover efforts failed to earn the praise of critics, she reestablished herself strongly in 2005 with a back-to-basics album, Una Nueva Mujer. Tañón was most passionately adored during the mid-'90s, when she was the undisputed Queen of Merengue. Her embrace of Latin pop brought about some rifts among her fan base; however, it also expanded her market reach substantially, breaking her out of the tropical music bin and into the greater Latin continuum. ~ Jason Birchmeier