Mon Laferte

Mon Laferte is a Chilean-Mexican musician, singer, composer, and painter. She is known in full as Norma Monserrat Bustamante Laferte. She is born in 1983 and is from Viña del Mar, Mexico.

Style and career

Her work spans art pop, Latin pop, pop rock, ranchera, and singer-songwriter material, and her wider musical range also includes pop, rock, bolero, cumbia, and salsa. During the 2010s she becomes widely recognised for a melodramatic style and a strong stage presence. She is also established as a painter.

Early career in Chile

In 2003, performing then as Monserrat Bustamante, she enters the Chilean reality series Rojo and releases her first studio album, La Chica de Rojo. The album achieves significant success in Chile and receives Gold and Platinum certifications. She becomes part of the Clan Rojo and appears on the television series for four seasons.

Move to Mexico and change of name

In 2007, she moves from Chile to Mexico City and begins singing in nightclubs and recording cover versions. In 2009, she releases the single “Lo mismo que yo”, intended as the lead single from an album that is later halted by a thyroid cancer diagnosis. Around this period, she drops her original stage name and adopts Mon Laferte as a new artistic identity.

Albums, television and collaborations

She returns in 2011 with her second studio album, Desechable, then releases Tornasol in 2013. In 2012, she serves as a judge on the second season of the Chilean version of The X Factor, Factor X, alongside Karen Doggenweiler, Tito Beltrán, and José Luis Rodríguez. She also appears as vocalist of the Mexican heavy metal female band Mystica Girls in 2012, and records the album Gates of Hell with them in February 2014.

Breakthrough and later work

Her 2015 single “Tu falta de querer”, from the album Mon Laferte, Vol.1, brings her wider media attention. In 2017 she releases La Trenza, described as her most acclaimed album to date. Her collaboration with Juanes, “Amárrame”, wins Best Alternative Song at the Latin Grammy Awards. She also wins Best North Latin Artist at the 2017 MTV Europe Music Awards. Other noted songs include “Tormento”, “Amor completo”, “Si tú me quisieras”, and “Mi buen amor”.

In 2018 she releases the single “Antes de Ti”, which is nominated for Song of the Year at the Latin Grammy Awards, and the video marks her directorial debut. She also co-hosts the 2018 MTV Millennial Awards in Mexico City with La Divaza. Later that year she releases Norma, recorded in one live session at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles without overdubbing and with 13 musicians. Omar Rodríguez-López produces the album and Bruce Botnick engineers it.

Recognition and achievements

Mon Laferte wins four Latin Grammy Awards, the most for a Chilean artist, and two MTV Europe Music Awards. She is also nominated twice for the Grammy Awards. She wins an MTV Millennial Award for Latin Video of the Year in 2016 and receives Latin Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album. Her sales exceed 1.5 million digital records in Latin America across albums and singles, making her the best-selling Chilean artist of the 21st century.

Recent activities and public moments

In 2018, she contributes a version of José Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” to Gwen Stefani’s Christmas album. In 2019, she is announced for Coachella, receives her first Billboard Latin Music Awards nomination, and her album Norma is certified gold in Mexico. She also announces a tour titled “La Gira de Norma”. At the 2019 Latin Grammy Awards, she stages a political protest by revealing a message against torture, rape, and killing in Chile. In 2021, she contributes a cover of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” to the charity tribute album The Metallica Blacklist.

Nationality

In 2022, she announces that she has Mexican citizenship. She says she has lived in Mexico for many years, has a Mexican child, and has a Mexican partner.