Melanie Martinez

Melanie Martinez in 2022

### Occupation

Singer-songwriter, musician, director, visual artist, photographer, choreographer, television judge, dancer, businesswoman

## Musical career

### Genres

Pop • alternative pop • indie-pop • dream-pop • dark pop • electropop • experimental • trip-hop • art pop • baroque pop

### Instruments

Vocals, guitar, keyboard, drum kit, flute, bass, kazoo, harmonica, tamborine

### Associated acts

Snow Tha Product • Poppy • Jennie

**Melanie Adele Martinez** (born April 28, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter, director, choreographer, dancer, television judge, visual artist, photographer, and businesswoman. She is also the younger cousin of British singer-songwriter Charli XCX. Martinez rose to prominence after she released her debut single, "Rocking Horse", which peaked inside the top 10 on the Billboard Hot Singles Chart. Later, she released the breakthrough singles "Unhappy Meal" and her sophomore single "I Scream", the latter with Mexican rapper Snow Tha Product. Soon after, she was signed to Interscope Records. Afterward, she released her debut album, titled "Playland", on November 10th, 2021, through Interscope Records, which has received multiple positive reviews by both music critics and fans. Her inaugural tour, The Playland Tour, was announced shortly after *Playland* was released.

In 2022, Martinez released "Icing On The Cake" and "Puppet", which were the lead and promotional singles from her EP *Head Or Heart*, which was released on April 15th, 2022 through Interscope Records.

## Life And Career

### Early Life and Career Beginnings

Melanie Adele Martinez was born on April 28, 1995, in Astoria, Queens, to parents Mery and Jose Martinez, who are of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent. She has a younger brother named Joseph. Her family moved to Baldwin, New York, on Long Island, when Martinez was four. She listened to Brandy, Britney Spears, Shakira, Lady Gaga, The Beatles, Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls and Christina Aguilera growing up and wanted to be a singer from a young age. At fourteen, Martinez taught herself how to play guitar by studying chord diagrams of songs she enjoyed, which she found online, and wrote her first song by adding her poetry to one of the chord diagrams, but she says that playing guitar "eventually got stale".

Martinez grew up in a "traditional Latin household" where she was made to feel shameful about talking about certain "taboo" subjects such as sexuality, religion, and music. Recently, Martinez came out as bisexual to her family, and she says that her family fully accepts her sexuality. She went to Plaza Elementary School, for which she credits her teacher, Mr. Nadien, with teaching her how to sing, and in kindergarten, she started to write poetry. Martinez said that growing up, she barely had any friends even during high school, and that she was a homebody. Her father was an alcoholic and a drug addict, and he died because of his addiction. After her father's death, Martinez's mother struggled to support the family financially. They mainly relied on food stamps and soup kitchens, so Martinez and her brother both took up jobs after school to help out their mother.

Martinez began singing in school plays and musicals in middle school when she was 13. By the age of 14, she was already writing her own songs and using guitar chords and riffs to make her songs. She even had some of her friends sing with her.

### 2014: Beginnings and *The Voice*

In 2014, during Martinez's freshman year of high school, she auditioned for the third season of *The Voice*. She had not watched the show herself prior to the audition. The initial, untelevised audition was an open call, held at Javits Center. She recalls that while she and her mother were driving to the audition, her mother's car broke down before they reached the Queens–Midtown Tunnel, and the two were forced to "hitchhike" a taxicab in order to get there. Several months after the initial audition, while at Roosevelt Field Mall, Martinez received word that she had advanced to the "second round". She then received multiple callbacks until she was finally selected to audition on the show itself.

Martinez auditioned with Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance". All of the judges pressed the "I Want You" button for her. Afterward, she chose which judge she wanted as her coach and advanced forward into the show. In the Battle Round, Martinez competed against Caitlin Michele. They performed a duet of the Ellie Goulding song "Lights". Michele was eliminated, while Martinez won and moved on to the Knockout Round. In the Knockout Round, Martinez was paired with Sam James. She chose to sing La Roux's "Bulletproof". James was eliminated and Martinez moved on to the Live Rounds. Martinez's coach later chose her over fellow contestants Loren Allred and Joselyn Rivera to stay and advance in the show.

In week three, Martinez's performance of "Seven Nation Army" finished the voting period at #10 on the iTunes Top 200 Single Chart, causing her iTunes votes to be multiplied by ten. But Martinez was eliminated by audience vote in week five, along with the fellow member Amanda Brown, leaving her coach with no artists. In response, Martinez said, "I never expected to get this far and this is beyond what I've ever dreamed of. I'm just so glad I got to express who I am as an artist and really touch people's hearts because that was the ultimate goal."

### 2019: Songwriting and Judge Martinez

Throughout her college years, Martinez wrote several songs based on her own experiences and feelings. She would always use childish metaphors whenever she wrote a song. This led to the development of her current musical style. In 2019, after performing as a legacy contestant on The Voice for almost 5 years, Martinez requested to become a judge for The Voice. Her request was accepted, and Martinez made history by becoming the youngest person to be a judge on The Voice. Martinez is now known on The Voice for being the nicest, sweetest, cutest, and most honest judge The Voice has ever had. She has judged many contestants since she was accepted to be a judge.

### 2021: Interscope Records and *Playland*

Martinez would first release the singles "Rocking Horse" and "Unhappy Meal" before signing with Interscope Records in late 2021. "Rocking Horse" peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot Singles Chart. The follow-up single, "Unhappy Meal" which was also a promotional single, peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot Singles Chart. In November of 2021, Martinez released her debut album *Playland*, which debuted at #5 on the Billboard Top Albums Chart and also debuted at #2 on the Billboard Digital Albums Chart. *Playland* received positive reviews from both music critics and fans of Martinez. Metacritic, which bases reviews on scores out of 100, gave Playland a score of 59, which means "Average". On November 12, Martinez announced her inaugural concert tour, "The Playland Tour". She started touring on December 9th, 2021, in Europe. The Playland Tour came to an end in November 2022.

## Artistry

### Music and Videos

Martinez's music has been described as pop, alternative pop, art pop, indie-pop, dream pop, experimental, electropop, emo pop, and dark-pop. The subject matter of Martinez's songs is typically based on personal experiences. Martinez describes her own music as "very dark and honest" and "hip hop/trap inspired beats with creepy nostalgic childlike sounds such as baby pianos, music boxes, and toys". Martinez's music has been described by *The Guardian* as "off-kilter, sweary electropop". *Rolling Stone* described Martinez's music as "twisted lullabies about love, danger and madness", and compared her music to that of "'Coin-Operated Boy'-era Dresden Dolls" and Lana Del Rey. *The New York Times*'s Jon Pareles described her music as "perch[ing] prettily tinkling keyboards and concise pop choruses amid the slow, ominous basslines and twitchy percussion of Southern hip-hop – a candy-coated variation on the dirges of Lorde and Lana Del Rey", and described her voice, which has been classified as mezzo-soprano by Keaton Bell of the *Red Dirt Report*, as "whispery, sardonic, tearful, [and] furious".

### Influences

Martinez's music is influenced by many musical genres, singers, an artists; Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Indila, Brandy, Biggie Smalls, Gwen Stefani, Kandi, Normani, Neutral Milk Hotel, Mariah Carey, Charli XCX, Madonna, Zooey Deschanel, Janet Jackson, The Beatles, Ariana Grande, and The Black Eyed Peas. She attributes the "heavy hip-hop influence" in her music to her father playing hip-hop music in the family's house often during her childhood. Her visual influences stem from Mark Ryden, Aleksandra Waliszewska, Tim Burton, and Nicoletta Ceccoli. She named Tim Burton as a large influence in her visuals and has said that to make a movie with him would be her "one dream".

## Public Image

At age sixteen, after watching *101 Dalmatians*, Martinez dyed half of her hair blonde, in the same vein as Cruella de Vil. She became known for the look, as well as her "baby doll"-inspired outfits in music videos and when performing.

### Fashion

Martinez's fashion has been described as very intriguing, interesting, and downright artistic. It has also been described as Pastel Goth. Martinez's fashion is inspired by many people and her own influences, which included Japanese Kawaii and Lolita fashion.

## Personal Life

### Sexuality

Martinez has openly confirmed multiple times that she is bisexual, and that her family, friends, colleagues, and fans fully accept her sexuality and who she is.

## Awards and Achievements

*Main article: Melanie Martinez/Awards*

Though Martinez has only been participating for one season, she has already managed to take home one nomination, with more to come in the near future.

## Discography

*Main article: Melanie Martinez/Discography*

### Singles

* *Rocking Horse* (2021)
* *Unhappy Meal* (2021)
* *I Scream* (2021)
* *Ring Pop* (2021)
* *Stuffed Bear* (2021)
* *Icing On The Cake* (2022)
* *Puppet* (2022)

## Filmography

### Television

* *The Voice* (2014 - Present)
* *Celebrity Big Brother: Pop Industry (Season 1)*

## Galleries

### Artwork Gallery

**Albums**

PlaylandHead Or Heart
**Singles**

Rocking HorseUnhappy MealI ScreamRing PopStuffed BearIcing On The CakePuppetHeadphones