Lilian Annette Garcia, born on August 19, 1966, in the Panama Canal Zone, is a Spanish-Puerto Rican-American entertainer renowned for her dual careers as a professional singer and ring announcer.
Raised partly in Madrid, Spain, due to her father’s role with the American Embassy, Garcia’s early life blended cultural influences that shaped her passion for music and performance.
She returned to the United States at age eight, settling in South Carolina, where she graduated from Irmo High School and later earned a degree from the University of South Carolina.
Garcia has become an iconic figure in professional wrestling, particularly through her long-standing association with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
Beyond the ring, she has ventured into podcasting, releasing her acclaimed show Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia in 2017, where she interviews celebrities and athletes.
Siblings
Lilian has one sibling, a sister named Dalia Garcia.
The two began entering singing contests together in Madrid when Garcia was just five years old, fostering a bond through shared performances.
Career
Garcia’s entry into wrestling came in August 1999 when she debuted as a ring announcer for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) on an episode of Raw is War, quickly establishing herself as a fresh voice in the industry.
Early on, she became entangled in on-screen storylines, enduring physical antics like being placed in a figure-four leglock by Jeff Jarrett in September 1999 and tossed into a chocolate pudding pool by The Kat later that year, which added layers of drama to her role.
By February 2000, Garcia expanded her WWE contributions by performing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at live events, a tradition that peaked with her opening WrestleMania 2000 and continued through multiple iterations of the flagship pay-per-view.
Garcia’s tenure with WWE saw periods of highs and hiatuses; she left in 2001 to pursue music full-time but returned in 2004, solidifying her status as the first female Diva to stay with the promotion for over a decade during her initial stint.
Notable moments include a humiliating skirt-ripping incident by Bobby Lashley on the April 2, 2007, Raw, which ironically spiked online searches for her by 301%, and filling in during the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull volcanic ash crisis, making her the eighth most-searched term on Google.
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She navigated injuries, such as a 2007 ACL tear from skiing and 2015 knee surgery, yet consistently returned stronger, announcing full-time for Raw from 2014 onward.
Music remained a parallel passion: as a teenager, she sang with a band in South Carolina clubs, chaperoned by her mother; later, she hosted an afternoon radio show and worked as a VJ in Atlanta.
Her debut solo album, ¡Quiero Vivir!, released in 2007, featured collaborations with artists like Jon Secada and spawned a WWE feud with Jillian Hall over singing supremacy.
She also recorded Torrie Wilson’s entrance theme for a 2002 WWE compilation and co-wrote her own theme, “You Just Don’t Know Me At All,” for a 2004 album.
Venturing beyond WWE, Garcia joined the Professional Fighters League (PFL) in 2019 as its first female in-cage announcer, bringing her energetic style to mixed martial arts.
She briefly taught third grade early in her career and made guest appearances, such as on The Price Is Right in 2017 and Jimmy Kimmel Live! after the 2011 Grammys.
After departing WWE full-time in 2016, she focused on podcasts like Making Their Way to the Ring and Luchando Con Lilian Garcia.
In October 2024, WWE welcomed her back on a part-time basis for premium live events, a role she embraced with enthusiasm, citing its flexibility for her multifaceted life.
Accolades
Garcia holds the distinction of singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at WrestleMania more times than any other performer, with renditions at events like WrestleMania 2000, 2001, and beyond, often receiving standing ovations, most memorably on the first SmackDown after the September 11, 2001, attacks, where her emotional delivery united the WWE Universe in tribute.
As the first woman to announce at WrestleMania, she shattered barriers in wrestling, paving the way for future female voices in the booth.
Her loyalty to WWE garnered recognition as the inaugural Diva to exceed a decade with the company during her first run, a feat that underscored her reliability amid evolving rosters.
In music, Garcia’s talents shone through collaborations with Grammy-winning producers George Noriega and Tim Mitchell on ¡Quiero Vivir!, where she co-wrote 11 tracks, including duets with Jon Secada.
She contributed to WWE soundtracks, voicing Torrie Wilson’s theme on the 2002 WWE Anthology and her self-penned entrance song on the 2004 WWE Originals.
Her red-carpet appearance at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2011 highlighted her crossover appeal, featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
Podcasting accolades followed with Chasing Glory, which debuted on PodcastOne in 2017 and drew praise for intimate interviews with stars like The Rock, who credited her with elevating WWE’s anthem tradition.
In combat sports, her 2019 PFL role marked her as the league’s pioneering female in-cage announcer.
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