What is Mayte Garcia's Net Worth?
Mayte Garcia is an American model and dancer who has a net worth of $2.5 million. After graduating from the Wiesbaden American High School in Germany, her mother submitted a video of her dancing to Prince while he was on tour in Germany. He invited her to join the tour, and she later became an integral part of his album, Love Symbol. She performed with the New Power Generation from 1991 to 1996 and released one album, which Prince produced in Europe in 1995. The two were married in 1996, and they had one child together. The child passed away a week after birth due to a rare birth defect. Mayte and Prince separated in 1988.
After leaving Prince, Garcia had a relationship with famed drummer Tommy Lee from 2000 until 2002. She has continued to choreograph for various artists, including Britney Spears. She has guest starred on various television series like Psych, The Closer, Las Vegas, Nip/Tuck, and Keeping Up with the Kardashians. She was a cast member on the reality TV series Hollywood Exes on VH1.
Early Life
Garcia was born on November 12, 1973, in Fort Rucker, Alabama, an army base. Her father, John, was a United States military pilot, while her mother, Janelle, was a dancer. Both of her parents are of Puerto Rican descent. Because of her father's job, Garcia grew up both in the United States and in Germany at various military bases along with her sister, Janice. She also spent her summers with family in Puerto Rico.
At the age of three, Garcia began belly dancing. She appeared on the television program "That's Incredible!" at the age of seven as the world's youngest professional belly dancer. She also practiced other forms of dance, such as ballet. When she was a teenager, she became a prima ballerina with the Wiesbaden Ballet in Germany. She also graduated from General H.H. Arnold High School in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Career
Garcia's mother had submitted a tape of her dancing to a dancer who was linked to the artist Prince in hopes that he would view the tape. He did and arranged a meeting with Garcia while he was on tour in Europe. The two met backstage at one of his shows in Barcelona, and they kept in touch for the next few years before Garcia officially became a member of The New Power Generation, Prince's backing band of musicians and dancers.
In 1992, when she was 19, she was hired to dance on his next world tour, the Diamonds and Pearls Tour. After she and Prince became romantically involved and then married, she became somewhat of a muse of his and was the focus of his next album, "Love Symbol." She appeared as an Egyptian princess in the resulting music video compilation, "3 Chains o'Gold."
Garcia remained a member of The New Power Generation from 1992 until 1996. She then remained an associate of the group, dancing occasionally with them during Prince's tours. In 1995, Prince worked with her on her own album called "Child of the Sun," which was released by NPG Records. The album was not formally released in the United States and did not experience much critical or commercial success.
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In 1997, Garcia worked as the artistic director of the New Power Generation Dance Company during their "Around the World in a Day" tour. She also began directing some of Prince's music videos, including the video for the single "One Day." She ventured out to begin working with other artists as well, directing music videos for Chaka Khan and Graham Central Station. In 2001, she choreographed the belly dancing routine in Brittney Spears' "I'm a Slave 4 U." She continued working with Spears to choreograph her performance at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards.
After divorcing Prince, Garcia began working more with drummer Tommy Lee, with whom she also became romantically involved. She was featured on his album, "Never a Dull Moment," and also toured with him as a dancer. Garcia began venturing out into other forms of entertainment as well. She appeared in several films, including the Hindi film "Dus" and the Spanish language film "El Vacilon" in 2005 and "Firehouse Dog" in 2007.
She also began appearing in various television shows and series. She has guest-starred on "2 Broke Girls," "Psych," "The Closer," "Las Vegas," Nip/Tuck," and "Keeping Up with the Kardashians." In 2004, she starred in "Across the Hall" with Eric Cubiche. She also landed a recurring role on the Lifetime series, "Army Wives," from 2008 until 2009.
Garcia also ventured into reality television. She was one of the judges on the first season of the Oxygen channel's "Dance Your Ass Off" in 2009. In 2012, she became a principal cast member on VH1's reality show, "Hollywood Exes."
In 2017, Garcia released a memoir called "The Most Beautiful: My Life with Prince," which details her professional and personal relationship with Prince. The book was released the year following Prince's death.
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Personal Life
When Garcia was 16, she first met Prince backstage at one of his concerts. This meeting began their relationship, as Prince became her legal guardian after Garcia graduated high school at the age of 17. When Garcia was 19, they became romantically involved and were married four years later, in February of 1996. In October of 1996, the couple had their only child together, Amiir, who was born with Pfeiffer syndrome type 2. He was unable to breathe on his own and died six days after his birth. Garcia was gravely affected by the tragedy and contemplated suicide. After suffering a miscarriage, Garcia and Prince's relationship deteriorated, and they divorced in 2000.
Garcia was then connected to choreographer Wade Robson. The two dated from 2000 until 2001. She then began a relationship with drummer Tommy Lee of the heavy metal band Motley Crue. They dated for two years, beginning in 2001. Lee proposed to Garcia in 2002 before a performance in Indiana. She accepted the proposal, and the two remained engaged until 2003 when they decided to separate.
Garcia adopted a daughter, Gia, on her own in 2013. They live in Las Vegas, Nevada, together. Garcia has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease. She first began experiencing symptoms in 2010 when she partially lost her vision. However, by living a healthy lifestyle, she has been able to manage to stop the symptoms from progressing.
