Chris Montez (born January 17, 1943) is a Mexican-American singer, best known for enduring 1962 single "Let's Dance", which went to #4 in the United States, and #2 in the UK. Following the death of Ritchie Valens, Montez became one of the leading rockers of the Hispanic community of Los Angeles, California. Born Ezekiel Christopher Montanez in Los Angeles, California, Montez was brought up in Hawthorne, California. His early musical influences included the latino music played and performed by residents of his neighborhood, as well as Ritchie Valens. ...show more

Chris Montez (born January 17, 1943) is a Mexican-American singer, best known for enduring 1962 single "Let's Dance", which went to #4 in the United States, and #2 in the UK. Following the death of Ritchie Valens, Montez became one of the leading rockers of the Hispanic community of Los Angeles, California. Born Ezekiel Christopher Montanez in Los Angeles, California, Montez was brought up in Hawthorne, California. His early musical influences included the latino music played and performed by residents of his neighborhood, as well as Ritchie Valens.

After the release of the highly successful "Let's Dance" on Monogram Records, Montez spent several years touring with artists such as Sam Cooke, The Platters, and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, as well as The Beatles, then relatively unknown outside of Liverpool. With a desire to return to the charts, Montez returned to the recording studio in 1965, this time at A&M Records. Montez was searching for the same rock and roll formula that would replicate the success of "Let's Dance". During a recording session, A&M co-founder Herb Alpert dropped in and suggested that Montez try a different approach: a Middle of the road, soft ballad sound.

While not particularly interested in Montez had no desire to shift from rock and roll to adult standard, but trusted Alpert's insticts enough to give it a try. "Call Me" was the first single released from his 1966 A&M album, "The More I See You". The title single from the album, making its way to primarily adult-formatted radio stations, confused some non-rock and roll DJs, who were unfamiliar with Chris' past work. When back-announcing the song, the DJs would often refer to Chris as a female ( Likely because these songs were sung in a falsetto). ...show less