Photo Credit: Ruben Lopez
Recording artist Montana Tucker is ready for some joy and hope, so she’s bringing it to Coral Springs, Florida, today. After a failed attempt to visit her grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, who resides at Park Summit Senior Living Facility and suffers from Alzheimer’s, amidst the strict COVID-19 restriction—Montana flew in from LA just to spend time with her grandmother the same day that Florida’s governor called into action the law that forbid anyone to visit senior living establishments. When she pictured the sadness of her grandmother and the other tenants in the facility, she decided she wanted to do something special for them. Today, Montana is surprising her grandmother at her senior living facility in Coral Springs where she and 220 other residents will participate in a dance party, all from the socially safe distance of their balconies and breezeways/within COVID-19 safety procedures) featuring an in-person tutorial from Montana herself. She’ll naturally be performing her latest single (released by Mr. 305 Records, Pitbull’s record label), “Hola”. When the CEO of ZUMBA, Alberto Perlman, heard the plan he wanted to join in. ZUMBA helped to coordinate the event and is elected five licensed instructors to help in the tutorial alongside Montana at Park Summit. As you may have seen, since quarantine measures were put into effect, ZUMBA’s social dis”dancing” classes have been taking place around the world. Alberto also arranged for ZUMBA to deliver gifts to all the residents at Park Summit prior to today’s dance-off. Here, Montana, the only female recording artist signed to Pitbull’s label, discusses why she decided to organize today’s dance-a-thon and how she additionally plans on bringing hope and joy to others during these dark days.
Photo Credit: Ruben Lopez
First of all, congrats! You are the only female signed to Pitbull’s record label “Mr. 305 Records.” What does his faith mean to you?
Thank you so much! I am just truly honored. I have always been a huge fan of Pits so it’s amazing to be able to say he signed me to his label. Pit, his partner in Mr. 305 records Robert Fernandez, and myself all have the same vision of what kind of music I should be making and who I am as an artist and I can’t wait to continue to show the world who that is!
What has the experience been like, working with Pitbull? What has he taught you? What is the best career advice he’s shared?
One thing he said to me right before we released “Hola” was that this is going to be a marathon, not a race . To keep pushing and never stop. That really stuck with me !
What is the inspiration behind “Hola”?
Most people have known me from my dancing videos so I wanted the first song that I came out with on the label to be a song that is going to make you want to dance. Every time I hear “Hola” it puts me in a good mood and just lets me let go of whatever is happening and just have fun.
Talk to us about why you are in South Florida. What you are doing on May 6, and what did you hope to gain from it?
I have been in Florida now for about seven weeks. I originally came thinking I was only going to be here for a weekend. I was so excited to see my grandma and hug her and share my new song that I was going to be releasing but then the governors order happened . I wanted to do something special for my grandma so I thought it would be amazing to go to her senior living community where she lives and put on a show for all of the residents. I partnered with the incredible Zumba Fitness on this and myself and five Zumba instructors will be positioned all around the outside of the facility on the ground floor teaching a Zumba choreographed routine to my song “Hola” while they overlook and dance with us, from their balconies and breezeways. I can’t wait to see them all smiling and having fun…I cant wait to see my grandmother… even if it is from a far!
This event is a good example of things you are doing to keep your spirits up for yourself and other during a difficult time. What else are you doing during this pandemic to keep busy, what do you hope to accomplish when this is all settled?
This pandemic has really put a lot into perspective for me. I am so used to living a hectic busy lifestyle, running around from one place to another, so it’s been interesting staying busy in one place. I have taken this time to create a lot of videos and explore my creativity. While doing that, I have bonded a lot with my mom as she’s been the “Star” of many of those videos. I have also taken a lot of walks around my neighborhood and have done at home workouts.
What else do you have in store for 2020?
I know 2020 got off to a rough start so it’s only up from here! I am going to be releasing my official music video for “Hola” as soon as the pandemic is over and continue to put out music after that. I also have some other tv show/movie projects in the works that I can’t speak too much on yet but I’m very excited !
How has the coronavirus personally affected you? What, if anything, have you learned during the lockdown? Any self-reflection, new hobbies, etc?
The virus has definitely affected everyone in different ways. For me personally it has taught me that less is more. That I can get a lot done without having to have so many people or “things” around me. It has been really difficult not being able to see and hug my grandma and that is the first thing I’m going to do when this is all over!
