Former cop kept Marc Anthony on road to success

Marc Anthony credits a former beat cop in East Harlem with keeping him on the path to stardom.

Speaking at an annual Hispanic heritage celebration at the New York Police Department, the salsa star and native New Yorker recalled how the officer, Kevin Lowry, made sure he went to school each day.

Anthony said he owes thanks to Lowry "for keeping me on the straight and narrow".

Now retired, Lowry remembered wanting to keep Anthony and other children away from "the knuckleheads" in the drug-infested neighbourhood.

"I was just doing a policeman's job," Lowry, who was not at the ceremony, said when reached by phone.

The ceremony featured an NYPD band that serenaded Anthony and an audience of hundreds of officers with a rendition of his hit I Need to Know. He wasn't coaxed into singing, but did stick around to sign autographs and pose for photos.

The appearance was arranged by record producer Tommy Mottola after a phone call from Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.