Mayte Garcia
Mayte Garcia | |
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Fort Rucker, Alabama , U.S. | |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1990–present |
Spouse | |
Children | 2[a] |
Mayte Jannell Garcia (/ˈmaɪteɪ/; born November 12, 1973) is an American dancer, actress/actor and former singer. She was married to Prince for four years and has worked with various music artists.
Early life
Garcia was born on November 12, 1973, at
As a teenager, Garcia became a
Career and professional relationship with Prince
Garcia came to the attention of
In 1992, Garcia was hired to dance during his
In 1997,[6] Garcia was the artistic director of the New Power Generation Dance Company[7] on their Around the World in a Day tour.[8] She also directed the music video for "The One" for Prince.[2] In addition, Garcia directed music videos for Chaka Khan and Graham Central Station.[9] She choreographed the belly dancing routines for Britney Spears' "I'm a Slave 4 U" music video, as well as Spears' performance of the song at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards.[9] During this period, Garcia dated drummer Tommy Lee. She sang on his album Never a Dull Moment (2002) and she toured with him as a dancer.[10]
Films
Film appearances include the Hindi film Dus (2005) as a dancer, and Firehouse Dog (2007). In 2005, she appeared as a flight attendant in the Spanish language film El Vacilon.
Garcia was offered the role of Marilyn in the film Just like a Woman (2012) as well as to be its main dance choreographer, but declined due to scheduling conflicts. The role was later given to Sienna Miller.
Television
Garcia has guest starred on various television series, such as
Books
In 2017, Garcia released a book titled The Most Beautiful: My Life with Prince about her professional and personal relationship with Prince.[4]
Personal life
Garcia lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, with her daughter Gia, whom she adopted in 2013.[12]
Mayte has multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. The symptoms began in 2010 and included optic neuritis, resulting in temporary partial vision loss. Her treatment program, along with a healthy diet and exercise regimen, has stopped the MS symptoms from progressing, allowing her to live an active lifestyle and continue working.[13]
Relationships
In 1990, 16-year-old Garcia met Prince backstage in Barcelona after he saw a tape of her dancing. After she graduated high school in Germany at the age of 17, Prince became her legal guardian.[14][4] Upon moving to Minneapolis, Prince and members of his team helped set her up with her own apartment. "At first, I stayed at the Sofitel, then they moved me to a nice little prairie house at the Country Suites, but I couldn't even make a cup of tea there, so they got me an apartment and rented furniture," she said.[15] When she was 19, Prince instructed her to get on birth control thus beginning their sexual relationship.[4][16] After a four-year courtship, they married on February 14, 1996.[17]
Their only child, Amiir, was born with Pfeiffer syndrome type 2 on October 16, 1996. He was unable to breathe without a ventilator and died six days after his birth.[18] A week later, the couple were interviewed on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where they pretended their son was still alive.[19][20] According to Garcia, they were unable to process his death. "We believed he was going to come back, that souls come back. We didn't want to acknowledge he was gone," she said.[19] Depressed from the loss of her son, Garcia contemplated suicide, but the affection of her dog, Mia, stopped her.[21] After a subsequent miscarriage, their marriage deteriorated and they divorced in 2000.[18]
Garcia dated choreographer Wade Robson from 2000 until 2001.[22][23][24]
Garcia dated drummer Tommy Lee from heavy metal band Mötley Crüe for two years. In 2002, Lee proposed to Garcia before a performance in Fort Wayne, Indiana.[25] They ended their engagement in 2003.[26]
Discography
Studio albums
- Child of the Sun (1995)
Singles
- "Broken Wings" (1992)
- "Too Dramatic" (1993)
- "The Most Beautiful Boy in the World" (1994)
- "If Eye Love U 2night" (1995)
- "Rhythm of Your Heart" (1998)
Notes
- ^ 1 deceased
References
- ^ Rodriguez, Priscilla (April 28, 2016). "11 Things to Know About Mayte Garcia". Latina. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
- ^ a b Touré (July 1998). "Call Me Prince". Icon Magazine. Archived from the original on November 10, 2008.
- ^ Mayte Garcia Official Bio. (n.d.) www.mayte.com
- ^ ISBN 9781409171201.
- ^ Barclay, Michael (December 1, 1999). "Prince: He's going to party like it's... oh, never mind". Exclaim!.
- ^ "News from late 1996-1997". Uptown. Sweden. November 3, 1998. Archived from the original on December 12, 2007. at
- ^ Vergi Rodriguez bio Archived 2008-01-11 at the Wayback Machine at vergirodriguez.com
- ^ Prince's Raspberry Ballet at Yahoo Music
- ^ a b "Mayte Garcia, Not just prince dancer | Healthy Living Magazine". Healthy Living. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-4165-0766-6.
- ^ Kugel, Allison (August 15, 2005). "Si TV's Mayte Garcia & Eric Cubiche, from 'Across The Hall,' on Music & Latino Culture". PR.com.
- ^ Melissa (July 22, 2013). "Hollywood Exes Recap: Mayte Garcia adopts a baby girl!". Reality Tea. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
- ^ Kennedy, Lauren Paige (October–November 2019). "How Performer Mayte Garcia is Managing MS with Confidence". Brain and Life Magazine. American Academy of Neurology. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
- ^ Bream, Jon (May 8, 2017). "Prince's first ex-wife on her new memoir: 'A lot of trauma I made myself forget'". Star Tribune.
- ISBN 9781409171201.
- ^ Conroy, Catherine (August 6, 2017). "Living with Prince: 'I think it's time you got birth control'". The Irish Times.
- ^ Kennedy, Helen (February 15, 1996). "Rocker's Princess Bride". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on February 7, 2020.
- ^ a b Dodd, Johnny (March 16, 2017). "We Would Have Stayed Together If Our Son Hadn't Died, Prince's Ex-Wife Says". People. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
- ^ ISBN 9780760353639.
- ^ Woudstra, Kristy (April 21, 2016). "Prince Son: The Singer's Struggle To Have Children". HuffPost Canada. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
- ^ Dodd, Johnny; Kimble, Lindsay (March 17, 2017). "Prince: Mayte Garcia on Saying Goodbye to Infant Son Amiir". People.com.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
- '^ "Survivors Colleen lands a major movie role". EW.com. September 28, 2000. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
- ^ "The Scoop". Indianapolis Recorder. October 6, 2000. p. 32 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
- ^ "For The Record: Lance Bass, Bow Wow, Fabolous, Tommy Lee, Willa Ford, Napalm Death & More". MTV News. August 8, 2002. Archived from the original on July 18, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
- ^ Susman, Gary (April 30, 2003). "Tommy Lee's wedding to Mayte is off". Entertainment Weekly.
External links
- Official website
- Mayte Garcia at IMDb
- Mayte García at Discogs