Career

Cardona was born in El Paso, Texas. After taking the stage name 'Vikki Carr', she signed with Liberty Records in 1962. Her first single to achieve success was "He's a Rebel", which in 1962 reached #5 in Australia and #115 in the United States. Producer Phil Spector heard Carr cutting the song in the studio and immediately recorded a cover version billed to the Crystals that reached #1 in the United States. In 1966, Carr toured South Vietnam with actor/comedian Danny Kaye to entertain American troops there. The following year her album It Must Be Him was nominated for 3 Grammy Awards. The title track reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in 1967. "It Must Be Him" sold over 1 million copies and was awarded a gold disc. She had two other songs make the US Top 40: 1968's "The Lesson" and 1969's "With Pen in Hand". Around this time, Dean Martin called her "the best girl singer in the business". Carr had 10 singles that made the US pop charts and 13 albums that made the US pop-album charts.

In 1968 she taped six specials for London Weekend TV. She appeared on various television programs, such as ABC's The Bing Crosby Show in the 1964-1965 season. In 1970, she was named "Woman of the Year" by the Los Angeles Times. She guest-hosted The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1973. Carr married Michael Nilsson, a paint company executive, on August 20, 1979. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1981. Carr also achieved the rare feat of singing for five presidents during her career: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and Bill Clinton.

In the 1980s and 1990s Carr had enormous success in the Latin music world, winning Grammy Awards for Best Mexican-American Performance in 1986 for her album Simplemente Mujer; Best Latin Pop Album in 1992 for Cosas del Amor; and Best Mexican-American Performance in 1995 for Recuerdo a Javier Solis. She also received Grammy nominations for the discs Brindo a La Vida, Al Bolero, A Ti (1993) and Emociones (1996). Her numerous Spanish-language hit singles include "Total", "Discúlpame", "Déjame", "Hay Otro en Tu Lugar", "Esos Hombres", "Mala Suerte" and "Cosas del Amor". The last song spent more than two months at No. 1 on the US Latin charts in 1991, her biggest Spanish-language US hit. Her Spanish-language albums have been certified gold and platinum in Mexico, Chile, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Colombia and Ecuador. She also voiced Georgette in the Latin American dub of Disney's Oliver and Company.

In 1999 she taped a PBS TV special, Vikki Carr: Memories, Memorias, in which she performed popular bilingual tunes from the 1940s and 1950s. Her guests were Pepe Aguilar, Arturo Sandoval, and Jack Jones. In 2001, she released a bilingual holiday album, The Vikki Carr Christmas Album.

In 2002, she appeared to great acclaim in a Los Angeles production of the Stephen Sondheim musical Follies, which also featured Hal Linden, Patty Duke, and Harry Groener. In 2006, Carr made a cameo appearance in a straight-to-video thriller called Puerto Vallarta Squeeze. In 2008, Carr hosted a PBS TV special, Fiesta Mexicana, which celebrated the music and dance of Mexico. Later that year, she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Recording Academy. She marked the occasion with an appearance on the Latin Grammy telecast in which she performed "Cosas del Amor" with Olga Tañón and Jenni Rivera.

Most recently, Vikki Carr recorded with Latin Rock legends El Chicano, being featured singing "Sabor A Mi" on their most-recent studio album, released in April 2014.

Charitable work

Respected as an artist and humanitarian, Vikki Carr devotes time to many charities including the United Way, the American Lung Association, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and St. Jude's Hospital. For 22 years she held benefit concerts to support Holy Cross High School in San Antonio, Texas. In 1971, she established the Vikki Carr Scholarship Foundation, dedicated to offering college scholarships to Hispanic students in California and Texas. To date, the Foundation has awarded more than 280 scholarships totaling over a quarter of a million dollars.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album				notes
1963	Color Her Great!	-	-	-
1964	Discovery!	114	-	-
	Discovery Vol. II	-	-	-
1965	Anatomy of Love	-	-	-	liner notes by Ethel Merman
1966	The Way of Today!	-	-	31
1967	Intimate Excitement	-	-	-
	It Must Be Him	12	-	12	UK release differs from US release
1968	Vikki!	63	-	-
	Don't Break My Pretty Balloon	-	-	-
1969	For Once in My Life	29	-	-	live
1970	Nashville By Carr	111	-	-	recorded in Nashville
1971	The Ways to Love a Man	-	-	-
	Que Sea El	-	-	-
	Vikki Carr's Love Story	60	-	-
	Superstar	118	-	-
1972	The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face)	146	-	-	Song Sung Blue in UK
	En Español	106	-	-
1973	Ms. America	142	-	-
	Live at the Greek Theatre	172	-	-
1974	One Hell of a Woman	155	-	-
1975	Hoy	203	-	-
1976	The Story of a Woman	-	-	-	live from Japan (JP release only)
1980	Y El Amor	-	-	-
1981	El Retrato Del Amor	-	-	-
1982	Vikki Carr	-	-	-
1984	A Todos	-	-	-
1985	Simplemente Mujer	-	-	-	#3 US Regional MX / #15 US Latin Pop
1986	Promesas	-	-	-
	Esta Noche Vendras	-	-	-
	OK Mr. Tango	-	-	-	with Mariano Mores
1987	Dos Corazones (with Vicente Fernández)	-	-	-	#2 US Regional MX
	Me Enloqueces	-	-	-
1988	Esos Hombres	-	-	-	#4 US Latin Pop
1990	Set Me Free	-	-	-	several songs from Esos Hombres sung in English
1991	Cosas del Amor	-	-	-	#1 US Latin Pop
1992	It Must Be Him - The Best of Vikki Carr	-	-	-
1993	Brindo a La Vida, Al Bolero, A Ti	-	-	-
1994	Recuerdo a Javier Solís	-	35	-	#10 US Latin Pop
1996	Emociones	-	-	-
1998	Con el Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán	-	-	-
1999	Memories, Memorias	-	-	-	from the PBS TV Special
2001	The Vikki Carr Christmas Album	-	-	-
2012	Viva La Vida	-	49	-	#16 US Latin Pop

Singles

1960s and 1970s

• Years represent year of release, not necessarily the chart peak year.

Year	Song		CB				Original Source
1962	"I'll Walk the Rest of the Way"	-	-	-	-	-	single
	"He's a Rebel"	115	102	-	-	5	single
1963	"The Rose and Butterfly"	-	-	-	-	-	single
	"San Francisco"	-	-	-	-	-	Color Her Great!
	"Poor Butterfly/Stay"	-	-	-	-	-	Discovery!
1964	"Forget You"	-	-	-	-	-	It Must Be Him
1965	"The Color of Love"	-	-	-	-	-	Unforgettable
	"Busca Ese Camino"	-	-	-	-	-	single
	"Unforgettable"	-	-	-	-	-	Unforgettable
	"Tell Her of Our Love"	-	-	-	-	-	single
	"None But the Lonely Heart"	-	-	-	-	-	Anatomy of Love
1966	"The Silencers"	-	-	-	-	-	single
	"Heartaches"	-	-	-	-	-	Anatomy of Love
	"My Heart Reminds Me"	-	127	31	-	-	The Way of Today!
	"Summer Samba (So Nice)"	-	-	32	-	-	Unforgettable
	"Until Today"	-	-	39	-	-	single
	"Now I Know the Feeling"	-	-	28	-	-	Unforgettable
1967	"Sunshine"	-	-	-	-	-	That's All
	"There I Go"	-	-	-	50	-	Vikki!
	"The Lesson"	34	35	1	-	-	Vikki!
	"It Must Be Him"	3	5	1	2	2	It Must Be Him
1968	"She'll Be There"	99	92	13	-	-	Don't Break My Pretty Balloon
	"Your Heart is Free Just Like the Wind"	91	-	32	-	-	Don't Break My Pretty Balloon
	"Don't Break My Pretty Balloon"	114	103	7	-	-	Don't Break My Pretty Balloon
	"A Dissatisfied Man"	-	-	18	-	-	The Ways To Love a Man
	"With Pen in Hand"	35	42	6	39	-	For Once in My Life
1969	"Can't Take My Eyes off You"	-	-	-	-	-	It Must Be Him
	"Eternity"	79	69	5	-	-	single
1970	"Singing My Song"	-	-	30	-	-	Nashville by Carr
	"Everybody's Talkin'"	-	-	-	-	-	Nashville by Carr
	"Ain't No Mountain High Enough"	-	-	-	-	-	Vikki Carr's Love Story
	"For Once in My Life"	-	-	-	-	-	For Once in My Life
	"I'll Be Home"	96	117	7	-	-	Vikki Carr's Love Story
1971	"Six Weeks Every Summer (Christmas Every Other Year)"	-	-	28	-	-	Vikki Carr's Love Story
	"I Can't Give Back the Love I Feel for You"	-	103	-	-	-	Superstar
	"Que Sea El"	-	-	-	-	-	Que Sea El
	"I'd Do It All Again"	-	102	39	-	-	Superstar
1972	"The Big Hurt"	108	-	31	-	-	single
	"Grande, Grande, Grande"	-	-	-	-	-	En Español
	"Let the Band Play On"	-	-	-	-	-	single
1973	"Ms. America"	-	-	-	-	-	Ms. America
	"Leave a Little Room"	-	-	-	-	-	Live at the Greek Theatre
1974	"Sleeping Between Two People"	-	-	-	-	-	One Hell of a Woman
	"One Hell of a Woman"	-	-	-	-	-	One Hell of a Woman
	"Wind Me Up"	-	-	45	-	-	One Hell of a Woman
	"It Came upon a Midnight Clear"	-	-	-	-	-	single
1975	"Hoy"	-	-	-	-	-	Hoy
	"Puttin' Myself in Your Hands"	-	-	-	-	-	single

1980s to the present

Year	Song		Original Source
1980	"Disculpame"	-	Y El Amor
	"Abrazame"	-	Y El Amor
1981	"Total"	-	El Retrato del Amor
1982	"Todo Me Gusta de Ti"	-	Vikki Carr
1983	"Ya"	-	Vikki Carr
	"Prefiero Amar un Extraño"	-	El Retrato del Amor
	"Eso No"	-	El Retrato del Amor
1984	"Comprendeme"	-	A Todos
1985	"Ni Princesa Ni Esclava"	-	Simplemente Mujer
	"Atrapame"	-	Simplemente Mujer
	"Ni Me Viene Ni Me Va"	-	Simplemente Mujer
	"Cantare, Cantaras"	-	Hermanos
1986	"Promesas"	-	Promesas
	"Yo Creo en un Mundo de Amor"	-	OK Mr. Tango
	"Esta Noche Vendras"	33	Esta Noche Vendras
	"Tu Dicha, Tu Calma"	-	Esta Noche Vendras
	"Asi es la Vida"	-	Esta Noche Vendras
1987	"Que No Que No"	-	Me Enloqueces
	"Fallaste Corazon"	-	Me Enloqueces
	"Me Parece Perfecto"	-	Me Enloqueces
	"Dos Corazones"	10	Dos Corazones
	"Juntos los Dos"	-	Dos Corazones
1988	"Mala Suerte"	3	Esos Hombres
	"Hay Otro en Tu Lugar"	14	Esos Hombres
	"Esos Hombres"	37	Esos Hombres
1991	"Cosas del Amor"	1	Cosas del Amor
	"Me Estoy Volviendo Loca"	-	Cosas del Amor
	"Con los Brazos Abiertos"	-	Cosas del Amor
1993	"Dejame"	30	Brindo a La Vida, Al Bolero, A Ti
	"Nadie"	-	Brindo a La Vida, Al Bolero, A Ti
	"Una Mujer"	-	Brindo a La Vida, Al Bolero, A Ti
1994	"Amaneci en Tus Brazos"	-	Recuerdo a Javier Solis
	"Sombras"	-	Recuerdo a Javier Solis
	"En Mi Viejo San Juan"	-	Recuerdo a Javier Solis
1996	"Emociones"	-	Emociones
	"Que No Se Rompa la Noche"	-	Emociones
1998	"No Soy de Piedra"	-	Con El Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitan

Cultural references

• In "Whither Canada?", the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, there is a running gag about pigs being killed, usually by being accidentally sat upon. During the final credits for the episode, an announcer (John Cleese) says, "And here is the final score: Pigs 9, British bipeds 4. The Pigs go on to meet Vikki Carr in the final."
• In "The Nanny" episode "Strange Bedfellows", Fran (Fran Drescher) celebrates the retirement of a fellow nanny, played by Tyne Daly, by giving her the newest CD from Vikki Carr, who happens to be the retiring nanny's favorite singer.
• In "Moonstruck", starring Cher and Nicolas Cage, when Loretta Castorini comes home to tell her father (Vincent Gardenia) that she is engaged to Johnny Cammerieri, Cher's character and her father go up to tell her mother the news. The family has a heated exchange over who shall pay for the wedding. Loretta's father ends the fight by putting on a Vikki Carr record. The mother, Mrs. Castorini (Olympia Dukakis) alleges that "Now he's going to listen to that Vikki Carr record and when he comes to bed he won't touch me."
• In the "Family Guy" episode Total Recall, Peter is envious of his wife Lois, after she becomes very popular among his friends. After she comments "one of them drives a Volvo", referring to a "trapeze people", a joke which makes no sense, everyone but Peter laughs. He remarks, "So what? She can name a kind of car. Big whoop, I can do that too… Vikki… Vikki Carr".
• At a State Dinner, November 12, 1974, Don Penny was dancing with Mrs. Ford while President Gerald Ford was dancing with Vikki Carr. Ms. Carr innocently said to him, “What’s your favorite Mexican dish?” And he said, “You are.” Mrs. Ford was not amused.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]