Apollonia

Apollonia – American singer, model, and actress

Apollonia’s real name is Patricia Kotero. She was born on 2 August 1959 in Santa Monica, California. Patricia’s parents emigrated from Mexico. Besides her, they had 4 children. Kotero’s father worked in a restaurant. Her mom was a social worker and assisted with elderly people. At 16, Patricia quit school to work in the modeling business. She became very successful as a model.

At the beginning of 1980’s, Patricia decided to hone her acting skills. She landed secondary roles in such TV series as Tales of the Gold Monkey, Fantasy Island, CHiPs, Matt Houston, and Knight Rider. She also worked on music videos. Kotero appeared in Ray Parker Jr.’s music video for "The Other Woman" and Eddie Money’s "Shakin". In 1984, the artist appeared in the TV show The Mystic Warrior as Wicahpi.

Between 1983 and 1985, Kotero performed with the band Vanity 6, which was later renamed Apollonia 6. That’s when Patricia adopted the pseudonym. The creator and producer of the girl band was Prince. He helped the young women record their debut album Apollonia 6 (1984), which featured such hits as "Happy Birthday, Mr. Christian", "Sex Shooter", "Blue Limousine", "In a Spanish Villa", "A Million Miles (I Love You)", "Some Kind of Lover", and "Ooo She She Wa Wa". After the release of “Sex Shooter”, the band went on a world tour.

Prince wrote the lyrics for the group. With his assistance, in 1984, the song "Take Me with U", performed by Apollonia, reached the 25th spot on Billboard Hot 100. Such a high position in the popular chart was a great start for the solo career of the young singer. The song was featured in the band’s LP, Purple Rain. At that time, many fans tried to book Apollonia for their private events. However, she decided to channel her energy into the acting career.

In 1985, Patricia left the band and appeared in the episode of the TV series, Falcon Crest.

In 1988, the singer released her first studio album, Apollonia. The LP featured three songs, "The Same Dream", "Since I Fell for You", and "Mismatch". The latter reached the 10th spot on Dance Club Songs Chart. Meanwhile, "Since I Fell for You" climbed to the 20th position of the same chart. The album became the singer’s last one to date.

She continued working on her acting career. In 1989, Apollonia appeared in Ministry of Vengeance. A year later, she landed a role in the movie Back To Back. In 1991, she worked on Black Magic Woman. The actress also appeared in La Donna di Una Sera and Cattive Ragazze.

In the 1990’s, Patricia worked as a TV host on Jazz Channel. She also appeared on different channels in various TV shows.

In 2005, Kotero launched her own label Kotero Entertainment. Apollonia helped such singers as Sascha Andres and Nikki Barreras, better known as Nikki B, become popular.

In 2009, Spin magazine arranged an event in honor of its 25th anniversary to support the 20-year-old album Purple Rain. At that time, Apollonia and Greg Dulli recorded "When Doves Cry".

Even though Apollonia doesn’t spend as much time working on new songs as before, she is very active in the world of show business. She helps promote new talent and occasionally performs live.