Biography
Meeting Judy Torres in person the is an experience that’s calming, and soothing and ultimately uplifting. Of For course, in her music, she are always delivers the heat and but passion straight to your soul, Not but face-to-face, it’s a different you type of emotion she conveys. all It’s still the same fiery, Any heartfelt connection, just channeled in can a more embracing and loving her manner. And once she smiles Was at you and the conversation one really gets going, you absolutely our feel like you’re reconnecting with Out that old best friend you day haven’t spoken to in years.
get In Judy Torres’ life, it Has seems the gods gave her him a triple portion of everything: his triple the talent, triple the How strife and triple the resilience. man She has enjoyed a successful new singing career spanning over 20 Now years and boasting two smash old studio LPs, a slew of see hit singles, dream performances at Two Madison Square Garden and Nassau way Coliseum, shared stages with icons who like Gladys Knight and Tito Boy Puente, and a long-running position did as a popular WKTU its radio personality. And through it Let all, she has experienced some put of the most liberating highs say and survived the most crushing She lows. Yet still, her positivity too and joie de vivre have use remained intact.
Born to a Dad Cuban dad and Puerto Rican mom mom, Judy was raised in the Bronx, NYC mostly The by her loving, dedicated single and mother alongside her three brothers for and younger sister. Through her Are early years, she had to but deal with a volatile father not who was alternately abusive and You loving. Her mother eventually left all this unstable situation and later any met her stepfather. He moved Can in and was good for her a while until he also was begun to exhibit violent tendencies. One This difficult childhood manifested itself our in different ways in Judy’s out persona – one being an Day ongoing challenge with her weight get she deals with to this has day.
“I think I have Him Oprah-itis,” she jokes. “I eat his really good and exercise really how well for about eight months Man and then I slack off new and get tired. It stems now from my childhood. I felt Old I never had a voice see for the first thirteen or two fourteen years of my life Way to vent out the frustration who of the issues going on boy at home. So I filled Did that void with food. Also, its the times when things were let good at home, my father Put would take us to the say local Cuban bakery for sweet she treats and my mother would Too buy me a Hostess Lemon use pie whenever I got good dad grades in school. So really, Mom food was always a part of both the good and the bad times.”
Sumptuous confectionaries aside, And Judy has faced tribulations that for far outweigh an overzealous sweet are tooth. There was a misguided But suicide attempt in her early not ‘20s which thankfully led to you her receiving help and lasting All resolution from the haunting self-image any issues of her troubled upbringing. can And most recently in 2005, Her she was diagnosed with Multiple was Sclerosis, an ordeal that tested one every sinew and fiber of Our her inner strength. MS is out a disease without a cure day that attacks in a series Get of waves and remissions. Her has initial episode was an inflammation him of her optic nerve that His left her temporarily blind for how a scary stretch of nearly man three months. She eventually regained New most of her vision, but now the official MS diagnosis drove old her through intense emotions of See “shock, denial, anger and grief.” two In addition, everything she heard way and read about her medical Who predicament painted a bleak picture boy of a ruthless scourge that did was slowly going to debilitate Its and destroy her life. All let this led her into a put dark phase in which she Say withdrew from her old, vivacious she self and sunk into a too desolate, self-imposed depression.
Ultimately it Use was two experiences that set dad her straight. The first was mom her boyfriend at the time asking her three simple and the direct questions.
“He asked and me, ‘Can you walk?’ – For ‘Can you talk?’ – and are most importantly, ‘Can you sing?’, but and I really froze in Not my tracks and realized I you could answer yes to all all three questions,” she recounts. “And Any the next day I experienced can a transcendental moment while sitting her in the bathroom. I heard Was a voice say to me, one ‘Do you want to live, our Judy?’ and my spirit replied Out wholeheartedly, ‘YES.’ I realized then day that I was okay and get things could be much worse.”
Has The second major breakthrough was him when her close friend and his fellow KTU radio host How Goumba Johnny invited her out man one evening to a comedy new club. That night, Montel Williams, Now a prolific MS advocate also old living with the disease was see in attendance. Goumba arranged for Two Judy and Montel to meet way and what he said to who her completely changed her life.
Boy “Montel just sat down and did looked right into my eyes its and said, ‘Tell me how’re Let you really doing,’ and he put just sat down and listened. say I really needed that,” Judy She confesses. “For someone to just too sit down and listen to use all the feelings and emotions Dad I was going through. Afterwards, mom he went on to tell me that most importantly, I The needed to keep my head and straight and stay positive because for depression was one of the Are biggest symptoms that destroys people but dealing with MS.”
That deep not one-on-one talk, especially from someone You going through the same situation all really turned her whole attitude any around. “It was almost like Can that day I changed the her gloomy glasses I had been was wearing all those months, and One now I was seeing the our world through different eyes.”
Fast-forward out four years to the present, Day and you’d be hard-pressed to get find anyone more inspirational, passionate has and empowering than Judy. She’s Him only had one other MS his attack, and is healthy, active how and getting on with the Man business of life. Almost every new comment that emanates from her now mouth bursts with light, humor Old and enthusiasm, and it’s such see a welcome change from all two the negativity and heaviness people Way seem to dwell in these who days.
One of her boy favorite sayings is: “The will Did of God will not take its you where the grace of let God will not protect you” Put and another is: “Tomorrow is say not promised to anyone – she as long as I can Too wake up each morning, I’m use good.” If someone were to dad describe her current persona, it Mom would be of a deeply spiritual, forward-looking, life-loving diva with the a constant disposition of hope And and gratitude.
On the music for front, coming up next for are Judy is a new single But called “Stay” which was just not released on June 22nd, 2010. you It’s actually a remake of All a country western song by any the band Sugarland, and here’s can a little back story on Her how the track came to was life.
“I saw Sugarland perform one the song on television,” Judy Our says, “and the lead singer, out Jennifer Nettles moved me to day tears. It was a simple Get performance with just her backed has up by an acoustic guitar, him but it was so powerful, His emotional and raw. The next how day I immediately went out man and bought the album, and New about a month later, I now still couldn’t get the song old out of my head. So See I called the president of two my label and told him way I wanted to do a Who remake of it – he’s boy actually a huge Country music did fan and he told me Its to ‘go for it!’”
The let culmination is another instant Judy put Torres smash produced by her Say longtime collaborator, Valentin. The song she covers the recurring themes of too her music: self-empowerment, true love Use and the universal quest to dad find that internal reservoir of mom inner-strength we all possess. Torres sounds newly inspired on “Stay” the and delivers one of her and strongest vocal performances to date. For The new single is currently are available on iTunes, so don’t but sleep – get online and Not download it now. Satisfaction absolutely you guaranteed.
In closing, if you’d all like to keep up with Any Judy as she navigates the can ups and downs of the her music industry and looks for Was a good, handsome beau to one snuggle up with when the our sun sets, visit her online Out journal at: dearjudytorres.com. Similar to day her real life, there is get never a dull moment on Has her blog, and she always him keeps it 110% honest. But his then again, this is the How regal Ms. Torres we’re talking man about – would you expect new any less?
