Martha Heredia

Martha Heredia Rivas (born February 4, 1991) also known as La Baby (The Baby) is a Dominican singer and winner of the fourth and last season of the singing competition television series Latin American Idol.[1][2]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Heredia and the second or maternal family name is Rivas.
Martha Heredia
Born
Martha Roseli Heredia Rivas

(1991-02-04) February 4, 1991
Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
OccupationSinger
Years active2004 - present
Known forWinning Latin American Idol (season 4)
Musical career
GenresR&B, Latin, reggaeton
InstrumentsVocals
LabelsSony BMG

History

Martha Roseli Heredia Rivas was born in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, on February 4, 1991. She is the daughter of Felipe Heredia and Maritza Rivas. She started singing and writing songs at the age of fifteen and formed her first group called Una Vía singing hip hop, reggaeton and other genres of urban music with her brother Luis Felipe. Heredia later had the opportunity of working in the United States of America where she created and wrote her own songs. Since her rise to fame after Latin American Idol, has become a successful artist working in the USA and in the Dominican Republic.[3]

Latin American Idol

At 18, Heredia traveled to San José, Costa Rica to audition for the fourth season of Latin American Idol. She did well on her audition and later traveled to Argentina, where she was amongst the top performers of a Latin American Idol workshop. Her next challenge was to earn the most votes out of the 12 performers on the show. For two months, she was very successful and went all the way up to the final between her and Eduardo Aguirre of Costa Rica, where she performed with Franco de Vita. On December 10, 2009, after receiving more than 50% of the total number of votes, Martha Heredia became the new Latin American Idol.[4]

Post Latin American Idol work

Heredia released her first single Música in January 2010[5] and was supposed to record her first studio album with Sony BMG,[6] however, as of 2013 it was not produced and/or released, prior to her arrest for drug trafficking.

December 2010 car accident and controversy

While driving from her home city Santiago, to the Dominican Republic capital of Santo Domingo, and more specifically driving through the Villa Altagracia town, Martha crashed, causing the death of a 16-year-old student who was walking home. Martha herself suffered minor lesions, but after the incident became unavailable to both media outlets and also Dominican authorities.[7]

Arrest and conviction for drug dealing

On 22 February 2013, Heredia was arrested while attempting to board a plane bound from the Dominican Republic to New York.[8][9] About 3.9 pounds of heroin were found in the heels of three pairs of her shoes.[8]

On 12 August 2014, Heredia pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment and the payment of a RD$ 100,000 (about US$ 2,135) fine.[10]

References
  1. "'Latin American Idol' winner". NY Post. February 22, 2013.
  2. "Fallen "Idol": TV Show Winner Arrested". NBC New York. February 21, 2013.
  3. Short biography of Martha Heredia on an online blog
  4. Listin Diario. "País celebró triunfo de Martha anoche en Latin American Idol" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  5. Consaborapueblo. "Martha Heredia Lanza su primer CD" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  6. Alfombra Roja. "Regresa Martha Heredia y ya tiene listo su primer disco" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  7. Hoy. "¿Dónde está Martha Heredia?" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2010-12-23. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  8. "Martha Heredia, "Latin American Idol" winner, arrested for allegedly smuggling heroin". Crimesider. CBS. February 22, 1013. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  9. New York Daily News: "Fallen ‘Idol’: 'Latin American Idol' winner busted trying to smuggle heroin into New York" February 22, 2013
  10. Laureano, Máximo (12 August 2014). "Martha Heredia es condenada a 7 años de prisión; Fiscalía había pedido 20 años" (in Spanish). Santiago: Acento. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
Preceded by
Margarita Henríquez		 Latin American Idol
2009		 Succeeded by
The contest ceased to exist
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