Lisa Lisa

Happy Birthday Gen Xer Lisa Lisa! 🎂🎉 Lisa Velez (born January 15, 1967), known professionally as Lisa Lisa, is best known as the lead vocalist of the 1980s freestyle and R&B group Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. She rose to fame with hits like "I Wonder If I Take You Home," "Can You Feel the Beat," "All Cried Out," and "Head to Toe," becoming one of the first Latina artists to achieve mainstream success on the pop and R&B charts. Born in Hell's Kitchen, New York City, to a Puerto Rican family, she began her music career in the mid-1980s after auditioning for the production team Full Force. The group's fusion of Latin freestyle, pop, and R&B helped define the sound of the era. Lisa Lisa later pursued a solo career and also ventured into acting, notably playing the mother of the title character on Nickelodeon’s Taina (2001–2002). In February 2025, Lifetime released the biopic Can You Feel the Beat: The Lisa Lisa Story, in which she was involved as an executive producer. The film highlights her journey through sexism, racism, and her private battle with breast cancer at age 21, which she concealed while touring. imdb.com/name/nm0892471/