Linda Viera Caballero (born March 9, 1969), better known as La India, is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter of salsa, house music and Latin pop. La India has been nominated for both Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, winning the Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album for the Intensamente La India Con Canciones De Juan Gabriel album. Early life Caballero was born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. Both her parents moved to New York City soon after her birth, settling in the South Bronx area of the city. Initially, they lived with Caballero's grandmother, a woman who served as an important influence on Caballero's life. Caballero began singing as a young girl, even taking opera training for a brief time. Her stage name, La India, was given to her by her grandmother because of her dark features and long, straight, black hair. La India describes herself as a feminist, having watched her father abuse her mother while she hid under the bed. Career 1985: Early career In 1985, when Caballero was 16 years old, she joined the Latin freestyle group TKA, a fact not widely known. Credited as "Linda," she appeared in the group photo on the back cover of TKA's second single, "Come Get My Love." She left shortly thereafter. Caballero signed a record contract with Reprise/Warner Bros. Records, who planned to market her as the Latin version of Madonna (who recorded for sister label Sire Records). India's debut album was titled Breaking Night. Three singles were released (“Dancing on the Fire,” “Right from the Start,” and “The Lover Who Rocks You All Night”), which all became big hits in the dance clubs. She also added her vocals to the Jellybean-produced single "Mirage". After recording the album, Caballero decided that she didn't want to take that route in her career. She decided to switch to salsa because she believed that she needed to "cross over to [her] people." 1992–1994: First salsa album An important event took place when she accompanied her husband "Little" Louie Vega to a studio session. Salsa bandleader Eddie Palmieri happened to visit the studio, and was impressed with Caballero when he heard her singing. In 1992, Palmieri produced Caballero's first Spanish-language salsa album Llego La India via Eddie Palmieri (The India has Arrived via Eddie Palmieri), which was acclaimed as one of the best salsa albums of the year. From then on, Caballero became