Daughter of the famous Cuban husband-and-wife entertainment team
Olga y Tony,
Lissette became a star of her own with several pop hits and many successful appearances on television and in film. Born in Lima, Peru, when her parents
Olga Chorens and
Tony Álvarez were on tour there,
Lissette spent her early childhood with her family in Havana, toured throughout Latin America with
Olga y Tony, and had her first hit at the age of five. Originally sent to America for her education, she was reunited with her parents three years later in Puerto Rico, where she received her own television show, and soon after, a recording contract.
Before long,
Lissette became a Puerto Rico fashion plate and author of her own trend, the "
Lissette look." Her marriage to singer
Chucho Avellanet was a major celebrity event and
Lissette helmed several television specials and her own soap opera (
Solamente Tu). Though her recording career often took a back seat to her busy and varied performance schedule,
Lissette recorded many popular songs, including "Quiereme...Tengo Frio," "Caricatura," and her Spanish cover of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" ("Eclipse Total del Amor"). She also appeared in the 1979 American film
Winter Kills (starring Jeff Bridges, John Huston, and Anthony Perkins), and later married another recording superstar,
Willy Chirino.
–
John Bush, Rovi