Carmen Electra was a cultural fixture of the '90s and early 2000s.
She rode the wave of Baywatch to super-stardom, and the tabloids became obsessed with her
relationships.
But in recent memory, Electra has been relatively absent from the public eye.
So where in the world is Carmen Electra?
Ohio native Tara Leigh Patrick launched her music career under the stage name Carmen Electra
in 1993 with a self-titled album.
After 20 years of acting and being tabloid fodder, she released a catchy dance single
called "I Like It Loud" in 2013, which reached no.
24 on the Billboard dance club songs chart, followed that up in 2014 with "Werq," and
kept the party anthems coming in 2015 with "Around the World."
Despite all three tunes breaking into the top 25 on the charts, her success didn't fully
translate into widespread pop appeal.
But don't count out Electra's talents just yet, because music is in her genes.
According to The Huffington Post, her father played guitar, her uncle played drums, and
her mom sang background for funk singer Bootsy Collins.
Electra has been candid about her desire to jump-start a music career, telling The Grid:
"I've been wanting to get back to music for quite some time now.
It's been a passion of mine since before I started to work with Prince back in the '90s,
but my life and career just happened to take a different path."
Few people got to know Prince as intimately as Electra, who, according to Us Weekly, reportedly
received her powerful stage name from the "Kiss" singer when she was 18.
The pair worked together in the early '90s and even briefly dated.
When Prince passed away in April 2016, Electra took some time to mourn the loss of her mentor.
Describing the late legend as her mentor, Electra told People:
"The world has lost a truly incredible spirit and musical genius.
What a blessing it is to be one of the chosen ones who had the chance to work so closely
with him.
[…] He has inspired an entire generation.
I will always love him."
The former couple reportedly met when Prince was forming an all-female band.
Although Electra didn't make the final cut, he still launched her career in the entertainment
industry by penning a song for her called "Carmen on Top."
Electra told Us Weekly in May 2016:
"As an artist and as a person Prince was so extraordinarily generous.
[...] And I'll always be grateful that he believed in me and took a chance on me."
"Having these opportunities on such a large scale working with Prince.
You know, I learned a lot."
Believe it or not, Carmen Electra considers herself to be her own, quote, "worst enemy,"
according to HuffPost.
Comparing herself to Beyonce - which, admittedly, could be the whole problem here - Electra
settled some of her own insecurities over restarting her music career after watching
the superstar's documentary and realizing that Beyonce is
"[...] this super-powerful woman who is brilliantly-talented with the world at her feet [who] still has
struggles."
Electra claims to have grown a thicker skin over the years.
She's stated:
"There are many ups and downs in this business but I've learned to appreciate everything
and not be as sensitive.
Obviously there are times when you read something about yourself and it affects you.
It's even harder when things aren't true.
But I believe what I read!
I pick up a tabloid and even knowing things are exaggerated, I still believe it, so I
understand why other people do."
While attempts to re-launch her music career have had mixed results, in early 2016 Carmen
Electra put herself out there as the host of the WE TV series, Ex Isle.
According to Deadline, the premise of the show was to help on-again, off-again couples
decide if they want to make their relationships work or take a chance at new love, all while
stuck on an island.
Electra joined forces with Dr. Ish Major to help these troubled pairs figure out what's
best for their love lives.
WE TV reportedly ordered 10 episodes and has not made any formal announcement about a second
season.
Sadly, this could very well become another notch in Electra's lengthy list of projects
that have fallen off the radar too quickly.
Many years have passed since Carmen Electra's brief marriage to former NBA star Dennis Rodman,
but she's still seemingly embarrassed by the mistake.
The pair eloped to Las Vegas in 1998 shortly after her mother passed away, but the dynamic
duo split about a year later.
The entire debacle played out in the tabloids.
Electra told Oprah Winfrey's Where Are They Now?:
"People couldn't understand why I loved him.
Because he had a reputation for being a bad boy."
She said it didn't take long to realize she'd made a mistake.
"When it was good, it was amazing.
When it was bad, it was the worst."
Another romantic sore spot for Electra is Dave Navarro.
Like Rodman, Navarro also has a rocky personal history.
In June 2019, Electra paid tribute to her rockstar ex-husband by posting a wedding photo
on Instagram and declaring her, quote, "eternal love" for him.
According to People, they split up after two and a half years of marriage in 2006.
But in 2017, the exes made headlines when they were spotted together, after which Electra
told Life & Style:
"Maybe we'll surprise everybody and get married again!"
According to the Dayton Daily News, Carmen Electra and several other professional models
sued a strip club called Cheeks, quote, "for allegedly using their likenesses in online
advertising."
In the lawsuit, Electra sought $75,000 in restitution.
Cheeks allegedly used Electra's photos, quote, "in select online ads and their website between
November 2015 until December 2017" without her consent.
It's tough to say whether this lawsuit caused Electra to retract from the public eye at
all, but it's clear there is one kind of attention she doesn't want.
In 2017, Electra launched the lingerie line With Love From Carmen, which easily could
have cut into time she had for entertainment pursuits.
She told Fox News:
"I've always wanted to have my own lingerie line since I started doing all the sexy photo
shoots and then when I merged that with dancing and burlesque.
I learned a lot of tricks along the way ... what materials are good materials.
I remember traveling around the world and I would go to vintage stores and try to find
anything from comfortable and cozy, to stuff I could wear on stage.
Something very dramatic."
Not only does the collection include swimsuits and home wear, it also includes some advice
for the men from the creator herself.
She explained:
"If you're a man out there, I would pay attention to what your woman is into.
Just put a lot of thought into it.
But also, think about how you want to see her.
I think that's fun, too.
You can also grab your girlfriend and have her try on lingerie for you at the store and
pick it out together."
Electra became the spokesperson for SkinCeuticals Skin Firming Cream, telling People in 2016
that she was "obsessed" with it.
She loved it so much that three years later, she started her own line, Carmen Electra by
Vilact Skin Cream.
The former Baywatch star told Radar Online:
"For me personally it was important that this cream was more than just another luxury product,
but a skin cream that can be used not only to obtain gorgeous facial skin but vibrant
skin on your entire body."
Electra's partner in the endeavor, Vilacto Bio Inc., put out a press release in June
2018 announcing its win of "the buyers choice award" at a Las Vegas trade show for beauty
products.
Those products have since hit the retail market, which we imagine was the end result of a lot
of time and effort on Electra's behalf.
And all outside of the traditional entertainment biz, too.
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