Melanie Martinez
Famous BisMelanie Martinez is an American singer, songwriter, and visual artist. She is best known for her debut album, Cry Baby (2015), which is certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Melanie Adele Martinez, of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent, was born and raised in New York. She was a very emotional child, and she has stated that others referred to her as a “cry baby”, which sparked the creation of the titular character of her debut album, Cry Baby. At age 14, she taught herself how to play guitar through the internet, she wrote her first song by adding her poetry to one of the chord diagrams, but playing the guitar “eventually got stale”.
When she was just 17 years old she auditioned for America’s The Voice, a singing competition, performing a cover of “Toxic” by Britney Spears. She reached the top 6 contestants before she was eliminated.
After her appearance on The Voice, Martinez began working independently on original material. She released her debut single, “Dollhouse”, in 2014. The music video of the track was fan-founded, and all the hair makeup and shooting were done by friends of hers. Later that year, she was signed by Atlantic Records and released her debut EP, Dollhouse. Since being signed, she has released multiple EPs, singles, and three studio albums; Cry Baby, K-12 (2019) and Portals (2023).
Her first album, Cry Baby, debuted at number 6 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Platinum by the RIAA in 2017. She proceeded to launch a perfume inspired by the album, titled Cry Baby Perfume Milk, which her record label distributed, making them the first to distribute a fragrance. Additionally, for that album, she collaborated with the makeup brand Lime Crime, Inc.
Martinez’ second albumK-12, which debuted at number three on Billboard 200, was accompanied by a musical fantasy horror film written and directed by Martinez. She launched her third studio album, Portals, portraying her four-eyed alter ego “Cry Baby”. The singles “Death” and “Void” from Portals, charted at number 95 and 61, respectively, marking her first original appearances on the Billboard Hot 100.
Martinez’s songs are often based on personal experiences, she describes her own music as “very dark and honest”. The Guardian has described her music as “part-nursery rhyme, part tragic life story”.
In an Instagram post on July 22nd, 2018, Martinez was asked by an anonymous user if she was bisexual. She replied:
Yep! Grew up in a traditional Hispanic family that did the whole Christian thing so it always felt like I had to choose. Guys always entered my path one after the other, and being so busy with touring since I was quite young, I never really had a chance to embrace my bisexuality fully. Some advice for anyone struggling with coming out as bi: know that you don’t have to choose. Duality is the shit! Be proud of who you are and who you love.