Carissa Alvarado

Carissa Alvarado met Michael in 2011. Their meeting was accidental, as Carissa was invited by one of her close friends to be an “extra” on a music video and Michael, too, was there for the same reason.

Carissa and Michael dated for a while and got married on April 26, 2012. The couple announced on ‘America’s Got Talent’ that they were expecting their first baby in October 2018.

Carissa Alvarado was born Carissa Martin, on January 10, 1991, in Los Angeles. She is Filipino–American. She aspired to become a singer since she was a child. She grew up with a younger brother, Bam Martin, who was also interested in performing arts. He grew up to be a famous dancer.

She developed an interest in singing, and her family helped her with her career. She attended church with her family regularly and soon joined the choir. She also grew up listening to Michael Jackson and began idolizing him.

She was 5 years old when she became part of the church choir. She spent all her early and teenage years dreaming of becoming a musician. Once she finished college, she could not find a way to break into the music industry. However, that changed after she met Michael accidentally.

In 2011, she met Michael through a common friend. Soon, they started dating. They found out that music was their common interest and decided to make music together. This led to the formation of ‘Us the Duo.’

Michael had a ‘YouTube’ channel where he uploaded the videos of all his shows. After Carissa joined him, they started making music together and then uploaded their tracks on ‘YouTube.’ In May 2011, they uploaded one of their first songs, a cover of the ‘Hannah Montana’ theme song. The song received a cold response. However, instead of giving up, the duo decided to continue working together.

In August 2011, they uploaded an original song titled ‘Missin’ You Like Crazy.’ The song amassed thousands of “views.” A few months later, the song crossed the one-million mark. This motivated the couple to continue working on their music.

They soon uploaded funny “Vines” along with their music videos. They also publicized their marriage on the platform, which helped them in gaining more subscribers. Additionally, they uploaded successful covers of songs by artists Rihanna and ‘Linkin Park.’

Meanwhile, they amassed more than a million followers on ‘Vine.’ At one point, they were more famous as “Viners” than musicians and they used their ‘Vine’ account to invite more subscribers to their ‘YouTube’ channel.

In June 2012, they announced the release of their debut album, ‘Us,’ through their ‘YouTube’ channel. As they released almost the entire album on ‘YouTube,’ their subscriber base increased. They were trying hard to gain more attention and were waiting for a big breakthrough.