A New Yorker since the age of 13, Yolanda got her first big break when she won top price at an amateur competition held at Manhattan's Tijuana Cat in NY. After years of success and her recordings of " Soy Una Fiera " and " Nostalgias de La Lupe," she came to Tito's attention in 1993 and began performing and touring with him all over the World.

She acknowledges him as her musical godfather, and credits him with teaching her how to sing Salsa and La Clave.
He even served as best man at her Las Vegas wedding last year.
She quickly learned that language is no barrier, whether in Tokyo, Paris, or Belgrade.

"Let me tell you something," She says.
" Music has only one language. It fills the body with happiness. That's how I feel every time I go to a different country, with a different language where they don't understand our language.
But they really enjoy it, they feel my music."
" And she adds," It fills me up, because I see people vibrating with our Latino Music."
She's currenly in the studio recording her nex Tropical CD's, which will feature TITO PUENTE.
Seattle audiences and the rest of the world will soon have the opportunity to hear the new material, of Yolanda and guest artist Tito Puente Chao.

Legendary timbalero Tito Puente, with his Latin Jazz All Stars band and featured guest artist Yolanda Duke, turned back the clock at the Showbox Theater recently.

Puente, who often laments the passing of the great New York nigthclubs of the 40's and 50's, transported a capacity crowd to another time and place, when big bands reigned in elegant surroundings.

A key ingredient in recreating this atmosphere is Yolanda Duke, who joins Tito and the band two thirds throughout the set. In towering neon platform shoes, flashy flared purpel spandex pants and bugles beads bustier, the voluptuous Diminican Diva with the crown of long golden hair dominates the stage from the moment she appears.
Confident and sexy, she evokes the era when lusty blonde bombshells like Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe wore their curves with pride.

A multi-faceted vocalist, Yolanda Duke moves easily between ballads and salsa, Cumbia and Merengue. She already has two solo CD's to her credit, the all tropical " Soy Una Fiera and "Nostalgias De La Lupe," a tribute to the late Cuban singer who was known as the Queen of the Latin Soul. And her rendition of " Amor Prohibido " is included on the Selena copilation tribute disc. Recordando A Selena .