The multi-million selling records, the success of his songs and his popularity with fans around the world have earned Marc Anthony the title of “King of Salsa”.
The US-born but Puerto Rican artist lives surrounded by luxury, concerts, camera flashes and the family love he has from his wife Nadia Ferreira, with whom he is expecting a child.
Long before he reached his musical peak, a tragedy struck that shaped his life and was remembered forever. According to Hola! magazine, the performer of Flor pálida lost his sister Maribel to an aggressive illness.
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The girl, who was only nine at the time, died of a brain tumor. Marco Antonio Muñiz – the singer’s first name – was the youngest of eight children of Puerto Rican parents, so the death of his little sister was a turning point in his childhood.
During a presentation at Radio City Hall in New York in 2016, the great salsa expert broke down in tears while performing “Tu recuerdo”, a song he dedicated to Maribel. “Sometimes your memory sits here by my side. “Sometimes it’s so cruel to remember you,” the artist sang to dozens of fans as a photo of the minor appeared on the giant screen.
When he became a father to twins Max and Emme with Jennifer López, the memory of his sister’s tragedy came flooding back. On this occasion, a mysterious knot sprouted from his hand, which sprouted on his daughter’s head. “I just remember that feeling. If there’s something wrong with the baby, I’ll die. I remember looking at Marc and thinking, “We should call the doctor.” I panicked a bit. We were like, “Did someone drop it when we weren’t looking?” I just remember looking at him and saying, “If this baby, if Emme isn’t fine, I’m not fine,” Jennifer said López, Marc Anthony’s ex-partner.
The couple took Emme to the hospital for a check-up, and luckily her tests went well. This horrifying experience made them reflect on the little access to medical care that other people have and, moved by this idea, they established the Maribel Foundation in honor of the late sister of the performer of “Vivir mi vida”.
In the middle of his speech for the recognition he received from the organization Voices Against Brain Cancer (VABC), Marc Anthony spoke a little about his family experiences and reaffirmed his work to continue the fight against this disease.
“I know firsthand how devastating brain cancer is and how severely it affects families, and I share VABC’s goal of finding a cure so no family suffers as we do,” he said. After his split from Jennifer, the foundation was renamed the Lopez Family. The singer is currently expecting his first child with Nadie Ferreira. With the birth of the new baby, she would have a total of seven children from different relationships.