Pee Wee | |
---|---|
Birth name | Irvin Salinas |
Also known as | Pee Wee Salinas PW |
Born |
Othello, Washington, United States |
December 8, 1988
Origin | McAllen, Texas, United States |
Genres | Pop, Latin pop, cumbia, reggaeton, Tejano |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, actor, dancer |
Instruments | Vocals |
Years active | 2003–present |
Labels |
EMI Latin (2003–2011) Top Stop Music (2011–2012) Sony Music Latin (2012–present) |
Associated acts | A.B. Quintanilla, Cruz Martínez, Kumbia Kings, Kumbia All Starz, Los Super Reyes, RBD, Flex |
Website | http://www.officialpeewee.com |
Irvin Salinas (born December 8, 1988), better known as Pee Wee, is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He was a former singer for the band Kumbia Kings and was a lead singer for Kumbia All Starz, both created by A.B. Quintanilla. In early 2008, he left Kumbia All Starz to become a solo artist. His debut studio album Yo Soy was released on August 11, 2009.
Irvin Salinas, known as Pee Wee was born on December 8, 1988, in Othello, Washington. He is the youngest of three siblings (his older sister named Elizabeth Salinas and his older brother Simon Salinas). His father, Horacio Salinas was an alcoholic, and put in rehabilitation while Irvin was thirteen years old. After his parents separated, his mother, María Martínez, changed residence to La Joya, Texas, located in the outskirts of McAllen, Texas. Irvin began to wash cars and perform other small jobs in order to provide his family with extra income. He has an uncle in Navasota, Texas after the name of Rafael Salinas. At thirteen, he met A.B. Quintanilla, brother of Selena, in a casting at Pee Wee' s middle school. It was then that A.B. Quintanilla expressed interest in Pee Wee, and informed him about a casting for a music video with his band and offered him an audition. Irvin accepted, presenting to him a few days later in the casting. He also went to Memorial Middle School and La Joya High School.
His artistic career began in 2003 when he joined A.B. Quintanilla's band Kumbia Kings after several members like Frankie J and DJ Kane left Kumbia Kings. In 2004 he recorded his first song and video with Kumbia Kings, Sabes A Chocolate on the album Los Remixes 2.0 released on April 6, 2004, being a round success and showing a very good response of the public. Due to the success, Quintanilla decided the absolute stay of Irvin, and nicknamed him "Pee Wee" for being the minor of all the band members. It was on the album Fuego released on October 5, 2004, that included his second success "Na Na Na (Dulce Niña)", being much accepted also by the public, and his success led to it reaching a big popularity with the public, and especially with the fans, who increased notably thanks to him.