Manoella Torres, "the woman who was born to sing", is an American singer and actress of Puerto Rican background based in Mexico who has had a extensive career that continues to this day. She has recorded over 350 songs by famous songwriters such as Armando Manzanero, Juan Carlos Calderón, Juan Gabriel, Manuel Alejandro and Rafael Pérez Botija to name a few.
Gloria Torres Calderón was born on April 21, 1954 in New York City, United States. Her Puerto Rican parents Felicia Calderón and Jorge Torres had a total of six children, Gloria being the oldest one. She developed an affinity to singing since childhood and would sing for her family. Fighting alcoholism, Jorge Torres and his wife decided to separate and their children were sent to boarding schools while they worked out their problems. Gloria, on the other hand, moved to Mexico with her grandmother, Guadalupe Narváez, who wanted to help her granddaughter's dream come true. She encouraged her talent while Gloria idolized singers like Cuco Sánchez, Los Panchos and Lucha Villa. In Mexico she continued to study vocalization and years later met the man who would take her career to the next level, Alfredo Marcelo Gil. He became her manager and initially gave her the stage name "Gloria Gil". She began making the rounds of musical events and television appearances where she met another important figure in her career, Armando Manzanero. Upon hearing her sing, he said "Niñita, tú naciste para cantar (Little girl, you were born to sing)". This quote would eventually become her media nickname "la mujer que nació para cantar (the woman who was born to sing)".
In 1971, she was offered a contract record deal with Columbia Records and her stage name was changed to "Manoella Torres". Her first album "Nació Para Cantar" included her first single record that Manzanero wrote titled "El Último Verano" became a smash hit throughout Mexico. Soon Manoella would amass hit after hit appearing regularly on "Siempre en Domingo" with Raúl Velasco. She appeared on numerous Mexican television variety shows and shared the stage with Mexico's most famous entertainers such as Verónica Castro and Gualberto Castro. Some of her greatest hits include "Ahora Que Soy Libre", "Te Voy A Enseñar A Querer", "Libre Como Gaviota", "Acaríciame", "Que Me Perdone Tu Señora", and quite possibly her most famous song "A La Que Vive Contigo", written by her mentor Armando Manzanero.
Towards the end of the 1970s, Manoella married Guillermo Diestel Pasquel, with whom she had a daughter, Erika. Later, it was discovered that he was abusive towards Manoella, resulting in her separation from her husband and in the mid-1980s she left Mexico. Disillusioned with love, she decided to focus on her life and her daughter. For three years, she had no contact with anyone of her previous life in Mexico. Deciding to end her marriage, and start anew, she returned to Mexico in 1988 and started performing.
In February 2007, Manoella Torres became part of Mexican television network TV Azteca's reality show titled "Disco de Oro", hosted by José Luis Rodríguez "El Puma", in which singers of the past compete in an interactive environment with the viewers. The winner got to release an album produced by the network but, unfortunately, Manoella achieved the third place.
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