Martha Alicia Villarreal Esparza (born August 31, 1971) known simply as Alicia Villarreal is a Mexican singer-songwriter. 　　Villarreal first performed the song Mundo De Juguetes at Pipo, a local TV show her parents took her to. Her first professional performance was at a church fundraiser. 　　In 1995, Grupo Límite, with her as lead singer, started touring with the more famous Grupo Bronco. Among their songs were "Acariciame", "Te Aprovechas" and "Solo Contigo". Grupo Limite released six albums altogether, including a live CD recorded in Mexico City. 　　In 2001, Villarreal released her first solo album in the ranchera style titled Soy Lo Prohibido, which featured the single Te Quedo Grande la Yegua. 　　In 2004, after parting ways with her bandmates, she released her second solo album entitled Cuando el Corazón se Cruza. The album was produced by her current husband, Cruz Martínez, and they wrote several of the songs together. The album has garnered her several awards 　　Alicia Villarreal performed for the highly televised Selena Vive, where she performed Si Una Vez. She later released this song along with 2 other new songs Punalada Trapera and Ya No Hay Amor on a dual disc of the album Cuando El Corazón Se Cruza. The dual disc also contained 5 remixes to her previous songs and a collection of all her music videos. The dual disc was released in Mexico in 2005. 　　In 2006, she released her third solo album titled Orgullo De Mujer with the lead single Insensible a Ti. The single was the theme song for the telenovela Duelo de Pasiones, on which she made her acting debut, in the role of Raquel. 　　After nearly a four-year hiatus, Villarreal announced she was in the studio recording her 4th solo album. The entitled La Jefa was released June 23, 2009, with "Caso Perdido," as lead single. The album debuted at number one on Billboard's Regional Mexican Albums and overall at number four on its Latin Albums chart. La Jefa received mixed reviews as it quickly disappeared from the charts. "Caso Perdido" flopped and did not achieve the same success as prior single releases. 　　Alicia Villarreal is currently working on a new album due sometime in 2016/2017