El 3 de febrero/February 3rd

¡Feliz cumpleaños a* ... Luis Coronel! (Luis Miguel Coronel Gómez) (1996-         )

*and also to Sara Carbonero and Daddy Yankee. See below!

Photo from billboard.com. Click HERE

A Mexican-American singer born in Tucson, Arizona, Luis Coronel began singing in church at the age of six. His grandfather, Tata, encouraged him (and challenged him, telling him that he wasn't that good yet, but that by being honest he was giving him a chance to improve). As a teenager, Coronel starting uploading videos of his singing to social media. Eventually, Del Records saw one of the performances of Coronel singing to his girlfriend and signed him. Soon after he won "Best New Artist of the Year" at the Latin Billboard Music Awards (see him before the awards, speaking English and Spanish, HERE). Coronel just released his third studio album, Ahora Soy Yo, with Sony Music Latin, which debuted as #1 in the Regional Mexican Albums chart (his first two albums, Con la frente en alto (2013), and Quiero ser tu dueño (2014), were both certified gold by the RIAA). Coronel has been open with fans about the challenges he has faced in life, including losing his father when he was only fourteen (Coronel's father, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, had been deported and died in a traffic accident in Mexico after trying to recross into the United States multiple times). "Every second my dad lives in my mind and my heart, and I love that people know what has made me strong. I love that people know what I've been through," Coronel told interviewer Randy Cordova of Arizona's The Republic in July of 2016 (click HERE for full interview (in English)). He also discusses how he got into boxing. It was after his mother ran into some hard times and had to move in with her sister (Coronel's aunt) and she, his sister, his brother, and his niece all had to sleep in one room on a mattress. A friend of Coronel's with a gym offered to take him in, and he lived there for six months in order to give his family a bit more space. He started boxing, but he also kept singing, and uploading his videos. It was from a computer at that gym that he uploaded the video that would get him discovered and change his life (click HERE to see the 10-minute interview (in Spanish) where he tells this story, among others). In 2017, Coronel's mother was picked up for not having documents and faced deportation (he speaks about this on Despierta America, HERE). In this CNN interview, asked what message he has for others in the same situation as his mother, Coronel answers: "Es algo muy difícil, algo muy complicado. Es un proceso que se tiene que hacer ... es algo que nos afecta la mente y el corazón. Pero una frontera no puede decir que uno está muerto. Es que una frontera no puede ... no puede apagar (?) la luz de la vida de una persona. Al contrario. Una frontera simplemente ... te estás esperando un país donde pueda salir adelante pero ... No se den por vencidos. (Hay que) buscarle la vida, buscarla por donde se pueda, y con fe, con la palabra de Dios en la boca, toda va a salir bien." (It's something very difficult, very complicated. It's a process that one must undertake ... it's something that affects our minds and our hearts. But a border cannot snuff out the light of the life of a person. To the contrary. A border simply ... you may be waiting for a country where you can get ahead  but ... Don't give up. Look for life  where you can, and with faith, and with the word of God in your mouth, and everything will be ok).

For the official Luis Coronel website, click HERE.

Photo from zimbio.com. Click HERE. 

For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.

Other February 3rd birthdays:

Sara Carbonero (1984-      ). Spanish sports journalist who reported for Telecinco for years. She studied journalism at the prestigious Complutense University in Madrid. She is married to professional soccer player Iker Casillas, with whom she has two children, sons Martín (January 2014) and Lucas (June 2016). Seen at right at the Spain vs. Switzerland 2010 World Cup Game.

Daddy Yankee (Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez) (1977-        ). Puerto Rican singer, actor, songwriter, and record producer. He has won multiple awards and  is called "The King of Reggaeton" in this 2006 New York Times' article. He aspired to be a professional baseball player before being hit by a stray bullet (still lodged in his hip) and realizing that music was his only hope for success. "I thank God for that bullet. At that time, I didn't understand it. But right now, I give thanks to that bullet. That bullet made me be focused on my music, because I didn't have any [other] options - it was music or music, you know? I was so determined not to fail, and that attitude got me to this point," Daddy Yankee explains in a 2006 interview with MTV News. Daddy Yankee has been married to Mireddys Gonzalez since 1994, with whom he has two daughters, Jesaeelys and Yamilet, and one son, Jeremy. (In photo above, Daddy Yankee performs with Shakira on her song She Wolf. Photo from YouTube. Click HERE).