Mon Laferte facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mon Laferte
Mon Laferte in 2020
Born	Norma Monserrat Bustamante Laferte (1983-05-02) 2 May 1983 (age 42) Viña del Mar, Chile
Other names	Monserrat Bustamante
Citizenship	Chile Mexico
Occupation	Musician singer songwriter painter
Years active	2003–present
Spouse(s)	Joel Orta ​ (m. 2022)​
Children	1
Musical career
Genres	Música cebolla Latin alternative indie pop bolero alternative metal alternative rock enka
Instruments	Vocals guitar
Labels	Warner Chile Universal Mexico Sony Latin

Norma Monserrat Bustamante Laferte (born May 2, 1983), known as Mon Laferte, is a talented musician, singer, songwriter, and painter from Chile and Mexico. Her music style is very diverse. She sings pop, rock, bolero, cumbia, and salsa. This shows how creative and versatile she is. During the 2010s, she became famous for her expressive style and exciting stage presence.

Mon Laferte has sold over 4.8 million music units in Mexico. This makes her the best-selling Chilean artist in the digital age. Five of her music releases have received high awards. These include Mon Laferte, Vol. 1 (2015), La Trenza (2017), "Tu falta de querer", "Amárrame", and "Mi buen amor".

She has won many awards, including five Latin Grammy Awards. This is the most for any Chilean artist. She also received a Musa Award, three Telehit Awards, and two MTV Europe Music Awards. In 2025, Billboard magazine named her one of the Best Female Latin Pop Artists of All Time.

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Mon Laferte grew up in Viña del Mar, Chile. She lived with her mother, Myriam Laferte Herrera, her grandmother, Norma, and her younger sister, Solange. When she was nine years old in 1992, she won a school contest. Her prize was a guitar, and she started writing her own songs on it.

At age thirteen, she received a scholarship to study music. She studied at a conservatory in her hometown for a year and a half. However, she preferred to learn on her own. She improved her skills by performing in bars in Viña del Mar and Valparaiso.

In August 2007, Mon Laferte moved to Mexico. By 2008, she began performing in Veracruz and Mexico City as Mon Laferte. After living and working in Mexico for over 15 years, she became a Mexican citizen on November 30, 2022. She was very happy to have this new nationality.

Music Career Highlights

In 2003, Mon Laferte, then known as Monserrat Bustamante, joined a Chilean TV competition called Rojo. That same year, she released her first album, La Chica de Rojo. The album was very successful in Chile and earned Gold and Platinum awards. She was part of the Clan Rojo and appeared on the show for four seasons.

In 2007, Mon Laferte moved to Mexico City to start a new part of her music career. She sang in nightclubs and recorded cover songs. In 2009, she released a song called "Lo mismo que yo." This song was meant to be the first single from a new album. However, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer that same year, which paused her album plans.

During her recovery, she changed her stage name to Mon Laferte. She felt this new name represented a fresh start for her. She said, "My name change is not about wanting to be another person. Life's circumstances have made me change a lot, and I felt I had to start from scratch."

Mon Laferte decided not to release the album she was working on in 2009. Two years later, she returned with her second album, Desechable. In 2012, she was a judge on the Chilean version of The X Factor, called Factor X. She judged alongside Karen Doggenweiler, Tito Beltrán, and José Luis Rodríguez.

Around this time, in early 2012, she also became the singer for the Mexican heavy metal band Mystica Girls. With them, she recorded the album Gates of Hell in February 2014.

In 2013, she released her third album, Tornasol. She gained a lot of attention in 2015 with her song "Tu falta de querer" from the album Mon Laferte, Vol.1. In 2016, she won an MTV Millennial Award for "Latin Video of the Year." She also received two nominations at the Latin Grammy Awards of 2016. These were for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album.

Mon Laferte released her fifth album, La Trenza, in 2017. This album is one of her most praised works. Her song "Amárrame," with Colombian rock star Juanes, won the Best Alternative Song award at the 18th Latin GRAMMYs. She was also nominated for other major awards that year. She won "Best North Latin Artist" at the 2017 MTV Europe Music Awards.

In February 2018, she released the song "Antes de Ti." This song was nominated for "Song of the Year" at the 19th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Mon Laferte also directed the music video for this song, which was her first time directing. In June 2018, she co-hosted the 2018 MTV Millennial Awards in Mexico City.

During 2018, Mon Laferte worked on her sixth album, Norma. This album was recorded in one session at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles. All 13 musicians played at the same time to make it sound like a live recording. The album was released on November 9, 2018.

On October 26, 2018, she worked with American singer Gwen Stefani. They covered the song "Feliz Navidad" by José Feliciano for Stefani's Christmas album. At the end of 2018, the TV network HTV nominated Mon Laferte for "Best Southern Artist" at the Heat Latin Music Awards 2019.

In January 2019, it was announced that she would perform at the American Music Festival Coachella. In February 2019, Mon Laferte was nominated for a Billboard Latin Music Awards in the Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year category. Her album Norma also received a Gold record in Mexico for selling 30,000 copies. In May 2019, she announced her U.S. tour, "La Gira de Norma." The tour started on August 10, 2019, in Seattle.

In 2021, Mon Laferte covered the Metallica song "Nothing Else Matters" for a charity album called The Metallica Blacklist. In June 2022, she announced her Mexican citizenship. She said, "I've been in Mexico for 15 years, I have a Mexican son, my partner is Mexican. But this is beautiful, it's the icing on the cake!" She was happy to have her new nationality.

Visual Arts

Mon Laferte at her solo exhibition in Mexico City

On March 11, 2020, Mon Laferte showed her art for the first time in a solo exhibition. It was called Gestures and was held at the Museum of the City of Mexico. The exhibit featured 76 art pieces. Mon Laferte shared that she had been painting for ten years. She learned mostly on her own, with some lessons from her father, who is also a painter.

In January 2023, she performed at the Olmué Huaso Festival in Chile. She was joined by the traditional Oaxacan group Mujeres del Viento Florido. She sang her most popular songs and invited singer Chabelita Fuentes to sing "La Enagüita," a classic Chilean tune. She also sang "Canción sin miedo" by Mexican singer Vivir Quintana, which the audience loved.

Personal Life

Mon Laferte briefly lived in Los Angeles, California, in 2021. Her husband is Joel Orta, a musician and guitarist for the Mexican rock band Celofán. They got married in October 2022, eight months after their son was born.

Because of a medical treatment she had in 2009, she received fertility treatments in California to have her son. Even though her album 1940 Carmen has some English songs, she does not speak English fluently. She used Google Translate to write those songs. Mon Laferte is a vegan, a feminist, and an activist for LGBTQ+ rights.

Discography

Studio albums

• La Chica de Rojo (2003)
• Desechable (2011)
• Tornasol (2013)
• Mon Laferte, Vol. 1 (2015)
• La Trenza (2017)
• Norma (2018)
• Seis (2021)
• 1940 Carmen (2021)
• Autopoiética (2023)

Awards and Nominations

Film and TV Appearances

See also

In Spanish: Mon Laferte para niños

• "Canción sin miedo"