“Honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Latin Grammys in 2021 and with 45 years in the entertainment world, her carreer has taken her around the world, with some of her performance considered as pioneer and showcasing the true colors of all that is pure Dominican flavor talent.”
Milly Quezada – The Queen of Merengue
World acclaimed artist also know a “THE QUEEN OF MERENGUE”, MILLY is the only Dominican Republic female WINNER of 4 LATIN GRAMMY AWARDS and the ASCAP Latin Heritage Award, along with several Billboards, Casandra’s GRAND SOVERIGN, Univision’s Lo Nuestro Awards and many other international recognitions and awards for her musical contributions.Early on her artistic debut as female Merengue music singer, Milly established herself with fresh freestyle lyrics that broke away from the chauvinist culture that permeated the industry and the way of life of her country.
Decade of 1970´s and 1990´s
In the 70’S 80’S AND 90’S, her hits as “La Guacherna”, “Volvio Juanita”, “Tengo” among other Christmas emblematic songs has taken her worldwide with regular tours to Europe, North and South America and Japan. “Milly Jocelyn & Los Vecinos” were FIRST IN TOURING JAPAN and performed in an AMERICAN PRESIDENTAL INAUGURAL BALL IN 1990 (That of President GEORGE BUSH, SR.), both performances have been knowns as pioneer as they were the first to bring Dominican Merengue to these places. After her husband and manager Rafael Vasquez passed away in 1996 and upon her return in 1997, Milly went on to performed SOLO and accomplish such hits as “Lo tengo todo”, “Entre tu cuerpo y el mio”, “Porque me amaste”, “Para darte mi vida”, “Vive”, “Toma mi vida” and many others.
In addition to the aforementioned awards, Milly has been nominated to the AMERICAN GRAMMY’S and EMMY AWARDS; and has received many others international such as A.C.E. AWARDS, TU MUSICA AWARDS, GLOBO AWARDS in New York and several “CONGO DE ORO” carnival awards from Barraquilla, Colombia. She’s been recognized by the Senate of both Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic in 1997 and Nov. 8th 1997 was designated “MILLY QUEZADA DAY” by the NYC Mayoral Office.
Recent
The 2010 Dominican American National Roundtable in Washington D.C. awarded her the “LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD” for her cultural contribution to the arts, and in 2011 BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC recognized her distinguished career. She also became in June 2011 the second woman to receive the historical “PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL” of Hostos Community College N.Y.
Barranquilla Mayor’s Office named Milly “ADOPTIVE DAUGHTER” in 2015 and presented her the “GOLDEN MEDAL OF HONOR” for her promotion of Colombian music around the world.
Milly’s acting career has flourish since 2006 when she received the “CASANDRA AWARD” as Best Actress for her role in the movie “YUNIOL 2” which also received the Best Movie Award. She’s played starring roles in “CAL Y ARENA” in P.R., “HERMANOS R.D.” in Dom. Rep. and most recently in the movie “JUANITA” in the Dom. Rep.
ON 2019, Milly released her 34th album with featured guest artist as Maridalia Hernandez, Fefita La Grande, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Anthony Santos and Vladimir Dotel of the urban group “Ilegales”. Some of the songs and videos are already available in the music streaming platforms.
ON March 5th, 2019 Milly Quezada won top honor in 27th Annual ASCAP Latin Music Awards in Puerto Rico receiving the prestigious ASCAP Latin Heritage Award. On April 4th, the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic recognized her as one of the most outstanding women of 2019.
On November, 2021 the Queen of Merengue was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Latin Grammys, during a private ceremony in Las Vegas, as part of the 22nd Annual Latin GRAMMY week. The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to performers who have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to Latin music and its communities.