Paulina Rubio: 1971—: Singer, Actress

Paulina Rubio Dosamantes was born on June 17, 1971, in Mexico City, Mexico. Her parents, attorney Enrique Rubio and film actress Susana Dosamantes, divorced three years later. Paulina and her younger brother lived with their mother, with whom they traveled frequently, spending a good deal of their early years not only in Mexico but in Europe and the United States as well. Of her nomadic childhood, Rubio commented on her official website, "My mom was shooting a lot of films in Europe when I was young, so we were traveling with her around the world, with a lot of artists around: writers, architects, singers, filmmakers. It made me very independent, and that is when I started making some of my own decisions, at around seven or eight." A budding singer from the time she was a toddler, Rubio also spent time investigating other artistic pursuits such as painting, ballet, and acting. However, by the time she was eight, Rubio had decided she wanted to focus more on singing and dancing, prompting her mother to enroll her in a performing arts school. The training paid off for Rubio, who two years later was selected to be a founding member of the singing group Timbiriche.

Timbiriche proved an excellent launching pad for Rubio, who became widely known throughout Latin America as a member of the wildly popular teen singing group for nearly a decade. Despite the immense popularity of Timbiriche, Rubio continued to work quietly to hone the skills she knew she'd need to guarantee a lasting career in the music business. She found time to continue her studies, taking private jazz, singing, and phonetics lessons in Los Angeles. Of her years with Timbiriche, Rubio, in a 2002 told an interviewer for the Orca Sound website, said, "I joined the group at a young age and stayed with them for about ten years. We were like Menudo, except we were girls. They gave me my first opportunity and because of that I am here today."

While still a member of Timbiriche, Rubio decided to try her hand at acting and at the age of 17 joined the cast of the popular Mexican telenovela Pasión y poder. Cast as a villainous seductress, Rubio was an instant hit with fans of the show but later worked hard to shed the somewhat unsavory image she'd picked up as a character on the show. Her success on Pasión y poder later led to further television roles on Baile conmigo and Pobre niña rica, as well as her film debut in 1994 in Bésame en la boca. Although well received as an actress, Rubio made clear in an interview on her official website that music remained her first—and most passionate—love. "Acting was like a hobby for me, but music is my priority. I love to perform and to spread my music and my messages." A starring role in Vaselina, the Spanish-language version of the popular musical comedy Grease, afforded Rubio an opportunity to draw upon both her musical and dramatic talents.