Biography

An alumna of American Idol and Puerto Rico's Objectivo Fama, Karen Rodriguez is a bilingual pop singer and songwriter. Born in Miami and raised in New York City, she graduated from the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts, where she participated in musical theater. As a teenager, Rodriguez auditioned for the fifth season of the Puerto Rican talent show Objectivo Fama and made it into the field of 20 for the February 2008 season premiere, eventually finishing in seventh place. In 2010, she auditioned for the tenth season of American Idol by uploading a 40-second clip via the Internet (the first year the show offered that option). Based on agile performances of songs by Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Jennifer Lopez, among others, she advanced to the finals in March 2011 and finished in the 12th spot. She was then invited to sing backup on the Marc Anthony song "Vivir Mi Vida," a Latin number one in 2013. That led to a meeting with singer Romeo Santos and songwriting collaborations on his 2014 album, Formula, Vol. 2. Around that time, Rodriguez also began uploading covers of contemporary hits to YouTube, eventually garnering millions of plays for combined Spanish-English versions of megahits like Adele's "Hello" and Drake's "Hotline Bling." In 2016, Rodriguez signed with Roc Nation's Latin division, which released English and Spanish editions of her debut single, "Happy April Fools" ("La Tonta de Abril"), just in time for April Fool's Day 2017. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi