Lilián Annette Garceeka (born August 19, 1966) is a Spanish-American singer and ring announcer. She is signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as a ring announcer. She is married to Houston Rockets forward Francisco Garceeka. During her first stint in WWE, she became the first WWE Diva to remain with the promotion for ten years.
García began singing when she was a child in Madrid, Spain as she participated in singing contests with her sister starting when she was five. In her early teens – by then Garcia's family had relocated to Columbia, South Carolina – she was singing with a band at clubs around the area; her mom chaperoned so she could get in. She appeared in the 1990 film Modern Love as a singer.
In addition to her broadcasting duties with World Wrestling Entertainment, García sang the National Anthem of the United States of America before most Monday Night Raw tapings from February 14, 2000 until her departure on September 21, 2009. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon asked her to sing America the Beautiful at WrestleMania 2000 and WrestleMania 21, joining a renowned list of legendary recording artists that includes Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Reba McEntire, Gladys Knight and Willie Nelson. Garcia is one of two singers to have sung the opening song at WrestleMania more than once, Franklin being the other.
García is a regular fixture in professional sports with annual performances for the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball. She has also performed at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, Dancing with the Stars and as an opening act for James Brown.
García's first single, "Shout", debuted at No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 2002. She recalled her reaction to the news years later, commenting, "When my single came out years ago, and it was just a single, I remember the very first week it charted No. 69, and I was screaming as I grabbed Billboard, running down the streets of New York, holding it up and screaming, ‘I made Billboard! I made Billboard!' I'm dreaming for that moment again.
Garcia recorded fellow Diva Torrie Wilson's theme song, "Need A Little Time", for WWE Anthology, a compilation album released by World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002. She co-wrote You Just Don't Know Me At All with producers Doug Kistner and Anthony Krizan, which was released in January 2004 on the WWE Originals album. It became her theme song at WWE live events.
García began work on a solo album with Grammy award winning record producers George Noriega and Tim Mitchell in 2005, who have also worked with multi platinum artists such as Shakira, Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez. She announced on the August 13, 2007 episode of Raw that the title of her album would be ¡Quiero Vivir!, which is Spanish for I Wanna Live. The album was released on October 9, 2007 via Universal Music Latino. Garcia co-wrote eleven songs on the album, including three with Jon Secada, who she duets with on "Adonde". The album contains ten Spanish language tracks, and two English translations; "Under in Love" ("Desenamorada") and "Where Did Love Go?" ("Adonde").
Following her departure from WWE in September 2009, García began work on a follow-up album. The new project will be predominantly English speaking, with possible Spanish nuances included. Garcia reunited with "¡Quiero Vivir!" produces George Noriega and Tim Mitchell to record the first song in Miami, Florida in February 2011. She also recorded tracks with Grammy-nominated producer Oh, Hush!.
Garcia appeared at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards, held on February 13, 2011 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Her appearance was featured the next evening on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
Professional wrestling career