Ximena Sariñana

A Mexican singer and songwriter who began her career in entertainment as a child actor, Ximena Sariñana crafts introspective adult alternative pop with a subtle jazz bent, often structured around her main instrument, the piano. Drawing comparisons to musicians such as Regina Spektor and Norah Jones, she made her recording debut in 2008 with Mediocre, which reached number two on the album chart in Mexico. Focusing mainly on music thereafter, she was a judge on the TV talent competition Mexico Tiene Talento in 2014, the same year she released her third studio album, No Todo lo Puedes Dar.
Born Ximena Sariñana Rivera in Guadalajara in 1985, Sariñana is the daughter of film director Fernando Sariñana and screenwriter Carolina Rivera as well as the niece of actress Angélica Rivera. After making her screen acting debut in her father’s 1994 film Hasta Morir (’Til Death), she took roles in the telenovelas Luz Clarita (1996-1997) and María Isabel (1997), singing the theme song to Luz Clarita. Over the next ten years, Sariñana appeared in a dozen more feature-length and short films, including Todo el Poder (1999), Amar Te Duele (2002), and Dos Abrazos (2007), most of which involved at least one of her parents. Amar Te Duele proved to be Sariñana’s breakout role as an actress as well as a singer; the hit soundtrack featured her song “Las Huellas.”
In 2006, she sang lead in the jazz-funk band Feliz No Cumpleaños, also comprised of Alex Sanchez (guitar), Alex Cuevas (keyboards), Levi Serrano (sax), Hugo Chavez (bass), Gerardo Balandrano (percussion), and Uriel Herrera (drums). That year, the group independently released La Familia Feliz. The following year, she made a guest appearance on the song “Luna” from Volován’s album Monitor, and in 2008, Warner Music released her full-length solo debut, Mediocre. The album was commercially as well as critically successful, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album.
Sariñana returned in 2011 with a self-titled effort, her first to be sung primarily in English. She then appeared in her father’s 2013 film Los Fabulosos 7 before issuing her third full-length, No Todo lo Puedes Dar, in 2014. It was co-produced by Grammy winner John Congleton, Spoon’s Jim Eno, and Plastilina Mosh’s Alejandro Rosso. Its arrival coincided with her stint as a judge on the Mexican version of America’s Got Talent, Mexico Tiene Talento. A recurring role on the comedy series Un Man Date followed in 2016, and her studio album ¿Dónde Bailarán las Niñas? was released via Warner in 2019. ~ Jason Birchmeier & Marcy Donelson