Isabela Merced

An actor and singer, Isabela Merced makes dance-oriented pop that she sings in English and Spanish. Merced initially gained attention on Nickelodeon before breaking through with her starring role in the 2019 film Dora and the Lost City of Gold. That same year, she released her debut single, “Papi.”
Born Isabela Moner in 2001 in Cleveland, Ohio, Merced grew up in a bilingual household as the daughter of an American father and Peruvian-born mother. Around age six, her family’s house was destroyed by fire. Consequently, to keep Merced occupied while they rebuilt their lives, her parents had her audition her for a local community production of The Wizard of Oz. She quickly developed a love of performing and eventually starred in over 25 productions, including Fiddler on the Roof and The Sound of Music.
It was during this period that a director encouraged her parents to take her to New York to try her hand at musical theater on Broadway. They did, and at age ten she starred alongside Ricky Martin in a production of Evita. That led to work in Hollywood, including nabbing the lead role of CJ Martin on the Nickelodeon series 100 Things to Do Before High School, which ran from 2014 to 2016. More roles followed, including voicing the character of Kate on the animated series Dora and Friends: Into the City! and starring in several Nickelodeon films, including Splitting Adam and Legends of the Hidden Temple. She also released a 2015 covers album, Stopping Time, which included the original song “Dream About Me.” Returning to acting, she appeared in 2017′s Transformers: The Last Knight, and voiced the character of Heather in The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature. The following year, she appeared in the films Sicario: Day of the Soldado and Instant Family. However, it was her starring role in 2019′s live-action adaptation of the Dora the Explorer animated series, Dora and the Lost City of Gold, that garnered Merced world-wide fame.
Up until this point, Merced had worked under her birth name, Isabela Moner. However, in 2019 she adopted the stage name Isabela Merced, drawing on the name of her late grandmother, Yolanda Merced Salazar Pittman. In October 2019, she released her debut single as Isabela Merced, “Papi,” which she co-wrote with Justin Tranter. The Better Half of Me EP arrived in May 2020, followed by the single “Don’t Go,” featuring Danna Paola, that October. ~ Matt Collar