The San Diego Union-Tribune voted Del Rio one of the "Top 10 Singers in San Diego", after which she moved to Los Angeles in 1989 to further develop her career. After recording the song "Llorando", a Spanish-language version of Roy Orbison's "Crying", she moved to Nashville in 1994. There, she was signed to Irving Azoff's label, Giant Records, and recorded her first album, Nobody's Angel. The title track was released on a compilation album and made it to No. 2 on the singles charts in the Netherlands.