Alex Cartañá (born Alexandra Rosamund Cartañá-Marks; 7 April 1983) is a British singer-songwriter and actress of Spanish descent.
Cartañá spent her academic years between both English and Spanish educational systems, making her fully bilingual from a toddler.
At 11 years of age, she moved to a strict Spanish Catholic School in the centre of Palma – Colegio San Cayetano.
It would be here that Cartañá would start developing her performance skills through theatre studies, speech and drama lessons, and an acting course with LAMDA, as well as forming the school's first gospel choir who, in their spare time, practiced songs such as Whitney Houston's version of "Jesus Loves Me" and mimicking En Vogue's "Does Anybody Hear Me".
"[citation needed] Her influences have included Gloria Estefan, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Toni Braxton, Boyz II Men, Stevie Wonder, Cece Winans, Nat King Cole, Mary Wells, her mother's all-time-favourite Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Randy Crawford, Roberta Flack, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Alejandro Sanz, Rosario Flores, Mary J. Blige, and many more.
She co-wrote and performed on "Shake It (Move a Little Closer)" by Lee-Cabrera (the New York production duo of Steven Lee and Albert Cabrera, erstwhile collaborators with Aretha Franklin, Brian McKnight and Tori Amos) for Credence/EMI UK, and supported by the BBC Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong.
[3] Cartañá flew to Malaga to shoot a video and perform in front of fans at the Radio 1 Road Show in Ibiza.
The title and introduction showcased her Spanish heritage, and the sentiment of the song was inspired by the relationship between Cartañá and her father, whom, after the death of her elder sister, became over-protective.
[8] Cartaña voices the character of Assistant Matron in Earwig and the Witch[9] In 2011, she married American singer, composer and musician Beau Black.