The oldest member of Menudo is 19 year old Monti, whose full name is Jose Antonio Montanez. He's Puerto Rican, originally from Caguas, but now lives in Loredo, Texas, where his step dad is with the US Border Patrol. He's the "dad" of the group, a role he developed growing up during stressful years of relocation to different places (he learned English in Germany) while his stepfather was in the military. "What got me through was my music," Monti recalls. "Singing in my school choir, singing in the praise team in the church choir, joining the drama team, that really helped me get my mind and spirit together and stop worrying so much about the great danger my dad was in being in Iraq. It was hard for my mom, it was for my sister, and I had to step up and be a father figure to my little brothers." What does he bring to Menudo? With salsa, bachata, and merengue on his iPod, keeping his beloved Puerto Rico close to his heart, he's the traditional Latin one.

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