1973 Vikki Carr – Live At The Greek Theatre

Vikki Carr (born Florencia Bisenta de Casillas-Martinez Cardona, July 19, 1941) is an American vocalist who has had a singing career for over four decades. Originally from El Paso, Texas, born to parents of Mexican descent, she has performed in a variety of musical genres, including country, jazz, and pop while her greatest success has come from singing in Spanish. She established the Vikki Carr Scholarship Foundation in 1971.

Cardona was born in El Paso, Texas. After taking the stage name ‘Vikki Carr’, she signed with Liberty Records in 1962. Her first single to achieve success was “He’s a Rebel”, which in 1962 reached #5 in Australia and #115 in the United States. Producer Phil Spector heard Carr cutting the song in the studio and immediately recorded a cover version billed to the Crystals that reached #1 in the United States. In 1966, Carr toured South Vietnam with actor/comedian Danny Kaye to entertain American troops there. The following year her album It Must Be Him was nominated for 3 Grammy Awards. The title track reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in 1967, sold over 1 million copies, and received a gold disc. She had two other songs make the US Top 40: 1968’s “The Lesson” and 1969’s “With Pen in Hand”. Around this time, Dean Martin called her “the best girl singer in the business”. Carr had 10 singles that made the US pop charts and 13 albums that made the US pop-album charts.