She went back from The Bronx, US to the Dominican Republic, where she spent her time listening to Aretha Franklin and realized her potential as a singer. At the age of 12, Kat was invited by the 'Queen of Merengue', Milly Quezada, to sing with her on stage in front of a big crowd of over thousands of people. In her freshman year, she responded to an audition in The Village Voice and was accepted into an all-Latina, Hip Hop/R&B group called Swallower. In April 2004, she opened for J Records musician Cassidy as part of the all Latino girl group Swallower. Kat was accepted to the Arts High School in Newark, New Jersey under the vocal instruction of Dr. Jerry Forderhase. Kat continued to pursue her dream of becoming a solo artist and at age of 15, she entered a Coca-Cola sponsored karaoke competition. Her version of "I Will Always Love You" won the competition.[citation needed] After the competition, Cuban salsa singer Rey Ruiz advised Kat to start writing her own music.[citation needed] Kat DeLuna signed a contract with the production label, Get Money Brothers (GMB) Music Group owned by Haitian male supermodel Tyrone Edmond. According to a brief interview she granted on HaitiXchange.com, she stated that she first met Tyrone when she was only 1 years old, who was then scouting for talent. Kat and Tyrone have become good friends ever since. Kat was finally picked up by Epic Records and is currently under both labels. She is managed by Cape Town Management. Her debut album, 9 Lives, produced by hitmaker RedOne, and written by grammy nominated songwriter Jane't Sewell-Ulepic, was released on August 7, 2007, as confirmed by Billboard and will be re-released this Spring.[3]
Actor Saville appears with DeLuna in the music video "In The End".
