Belle Perez (BE)

About

Also known as: Bell Perez, María Isabel Pérez Cerezo

Belle Perez, born María Isabel Pérez Cerezo in Neerpelt, Belgium, built one of the more unlikely success stories in Benelux pop by pivoting from English language pop to full on Latin sound with her third album Baila Perez in 2002. That shift paid off immediately: the album sat at the top of the Belgian charts for weeks and earned a Platinum Award. Her duet Me and You with Jody Bernal picked up Gold in both Belgium and the Netherlands, and she went on to win the Radio 2 Zomerhit five years running from 2002 to 2006. The song Que Viva La Vida, tied to the animated film Madagascar across the Benelux, finally cracked the Dutch Top 40 and sold 50,000 copies in the Netherlands alone. From there she became a regular presence in Dutch theaters and arenas, filling Ahoy in Rotterdam and the Sportpaleis in Antwerp with her Mega Latino concerts. She also branched into TV presenting and jury work, and kept releasing Latin pop material well into the 2010s, including contributions to a track featuring Pitbull in 2012.