Apollonia is the stage name of Patricia Kotero, a singer and actress from Santa Monica, California. Born in 1959, she is of Italian and Mexican descent. She begins her career as a swimsuit model before moving into acting and music.

Apollonia 6 and Prince

Kotero joins Prince’s circle after Vanity leaves the film Purple Rain and the associated girl group Apollonia 6. She takes the name Apollonia from Prince, replaces Vanity in the film’s lead role, and also becomes the lead singer of Apollonia 6 alongside original members Brenda Bennett and Susan Moonsie. The group is known for its stage image and for appearing in lingerie. It releases one album in 1984 and the single “Sex Shooter”. Prince is credited on the album under the name Jamie Starr, and the project also includes recordings of “Manic Monday”, “The Glamorous Life” and “Take Me With U”, with the last of these becoming Apollonia’s highest-charting single in the US.

Television, solo work and later career

Apollonia leaves Prince’s camp in 1985 and appears in the television series Falcon Crest in 1986, where she plays Lorenzo Lamas’s girlfriend for ten consecutive weeks and performs several unreleased solo songs, including “Red Light Romeo”. In 1988 she releases her solo album Apollonia on Warner Bros. Records. The album features dance-oriented material and includes the singles “Since I Fell For You”, “The Same Dream” and “Mismatch”. It is produced by figures including Ric Wake, Terry Lupton and Andy Goldmark.

Film work and education

Alongside her music career, Kotero appears in the straight-to-video films Back To Back, Black Magic Woman and Ministry of Vengeance. After these releases and her debut album, she steps away from the industry for several years. During that period she marries actor Kevin Bernhardt and later divorces him, and she earns a degree in film from UCLA. She later returns with guest roles on Sliders and Air America, and continues to work around television and film projects in California.