Lisette Melendez was born and raised in East Harlem, New York to Puerto Rican parents.  The sexy, groundbreaking artist whose music helped to define the Latin freestyle/pop music scene in the early 1990’s, was initially inspired at the early age of 12 years-old by both her mother and aunt who sang in the church and in community theaters.  Lisette used music as an escape from the dangers of inner city life, often spending countless hours listening to other artists and honing her own singing skills.  Impressed by the successful rise of the Puerto Rican sensation, Lisa Lisa, high school student Lisette formed a vocal group.  In 1988, Lisette lent her vocals to the club hit “Make Some Noise.”  While promoting the song, Lisette was also able to develop herself as a performer through numerous club appearances.  Soon Lisette was taking the New York club scene by storm.

After that first recording, Lisette went on searching for new material.  In 1990, she finally found the song that she was looking for…”Together Forever.”  The recording, produced by Carlos Berrios (Sweet Sensation, Samantha Fox), was thought of as very different for its time, which made it difficult to get anyone in the music business to pay attention to it.  However, she eventually signed a deal for the single with Fever/Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Corporation.  Throughout the promotional campaign requests for the song flooded the radio stations, and folks wanted to know about the girl who sang it.  She then recorded an entire album for Fever/Columbia, also entitled “TOGETHER FOREVER,” which sold over 400,000 units and featured the hits “Together Forever,” “A Day In My Life (Without You)” and “Never Say Never.”   By 1991, she was named Best Dance Artist at the New York Music Awards. 

The follow-up album, “TRUE TO LIFE,” spawned the hit singles “Goody Goody” and “Will You Ever Save Me.”  Proving that Lisette is not just a domestic success story, she became one of only two American artists in the early 1990’s, five years after Mariah Carey, to garner a coveted Best New Artist Japanese Grammy Award for the album “TRUE TO LIFE,” which sold over 800,000 copies there–a triple platinum feat in Japan.  Lisette released another album, entitled “IMAGINATION,” and she also recorded an album of Spanish/Salsa music, entitled “UN POCO DE MI,” for Sir George Records, a division of WEA Latina.  Lisette’s albums and singles have all met similar acclaim in Asian countries such as Korea, Indonesia and Singapore.  In 2001, Warlock Records released Lisette Melendez’s “GREATEST HITS” album.

During her illustrious career, Lisette has performed on “SHOWTIME AT THE APOLLO,” “SOUL TRAIN,” “CLUB MTV,” Disney/Telemundo, “BET TEEN SUMMIT,” “THE ARSENIO HALL SHOW” and on the PBS special “IN THE MIX”…just to name a few of her television appearances!  She was also featured in a Coca Cola commercial, and as a guest anchor on Channel One News.

Lisette’s music videos include:  “Together Forever,” “A Day In My Life (Without You),” “Never Say Never,” “Will You Ever Save Me,” and “Goody Goody,” which also starred her good friend and acting mentor Rosie Perez.

Lisette has recently returned to the studio for the recording and production of a brand new yet-untitled album, and is once again ready to redefine Latin pop music.