Melanie Adele Martinez

She was born on April 28, 1995. is a singer, songwriter, director, and actress from America. Martinez, who was raised in Baldwin, New York, and was born in Astoria, Queens, first gained notoriety in 2012 when she made an appearance on season three of The Voice, an American talent competition.

Martinez attended Plaza Elementary School, crediting her teacher Mr. Nadien with teaching her how to sing, and in kindergarten, Martinez began writing poetry. Martinez says she had few friends growing up and was a homebody, as she was "very emotional" and found it difficult to explain her feelings, crying when overwhelmed. She painted and took pictures for practice. The title character of her debut album, Cry Baby, was inspired by the fact that she claims that people called her a "cry baby" because of how emotional she was as a child. Martinez was raised in a "traditional Latin household" where she was taught to be ashamed of discussing her sexuality and to fear rejection if she came out as bisexual. She claims that her family has come to terms with her sexual orientation. By studying internet chord diagrams of songs she liked, Martinez taught herself how to play the guitar at the age of fourteen. She composed her first song by incorporating her poetry into one of the chord diagrams, but says that playing guitar "eventually got stale". Martinez graduated from Baldwin High School.

Martinez's music has been described as pop, alternative pop, art pop, electropop, and dark pop. Cry Baby and K–12 were seen to have hip hop and R&B undertones. Portals saw Melanie venturing into experimental sounds and pop-rock. Martinez's music has been described by The Guardian as "off-kilter, sweary electropop". Rolling Stone described Martinez's music as "twisted lullabies about love, danger and madness", and compared her music to that of Coin-Operated Boy-era Dresden Dolls and Lana Del Rey. The New York Times's Jon Pareles described her music as "perch[ing] prettily tinkling keyboards and concise pop choruses amid the slow, ominous basslines and twitchy percussion of Southern hip-hop, a candy-coated variation on the dirges of Lorde and Lana Del Rey", and described her mezzo-soprano voice as "whispery, sardonic, tearful, and furious". Billboard's Jason Lipshutz also compared Martinez to Del Rey and Lorde, saying, "Martinez is clearly cribbing from the dimly lit pop stylings of Lorde and Lana Del Rey, but while her wispy delivery strikes the same femme fatale poses, she lacks the subtlety of her influences", and that "Martinez is admirably ambitious, but her insistence on sticking to Cry Baby's central idea leaves her contorting into uncomfortable positions".

Martinez describes her alter ego and the protagonist of her debut album, Cry Baby, as a "fairy tale" version of herself. Martinez's songs are often based on personal experiences. Martinez described her own music as "very dark and honest" and "hip hop/trap inspired beats with creepy nostalgic childlike sounds such as baby pianos, music boxes, and toys" Biggie Smalls, Shakira, Tupac Shakur, Christina Aguilera, Brandy, Britney Spears, and The Beatles were among the artists Martinez listened to growing up, and from an early age, aspired to be a singer. Martinez has listed the following artists as influences: Regina Spektor, CocoRosie, Feist, Kimbra, Zooey Deschanel, Neutral Milk Hotel, and The Beatles. certain albumswhich have inspired her music include Ariana Grande's Yours Truly and My Everything albums and Fiona Apple's The Idler Wheel. She credits her father for playing hip-hop music frequently at the family home when she was growing up, which is why her music has a "strong hip-hop influence."Martinez's favorite visual artists, Mark Ryden, Aleksandra Waliszewska, and Nicoletta Ceccoli, have inspired the imagery in her music videos. She cited Tim Burton as a major inspiration and has said that to make a movie with him would be her "one dream".

Martinez, inspired by Cruella de Vil, bleached half of her hair blonde at the age of sixteen after watching 101 Dalmatians.Vil. She gained notoriety for the appearance in addition to her "baby doll"-inspired attire from concerts and music videos. Her look has been described as "doll-like and decidedly emo" by The Guardian, yet her music is at its best renowned for being "part tragic life story, part nursery rhyme."