"El Caballero de la Salsa, " or Gilberto Santa Rosa Cortéz, was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. He grew up listening to the great Salsa musicians of the 50s - 60s and was greatly influenced by the famous Puerto Rican salsa band El Gran Combo. He was only 12 years old when he performed on television and decided to make a career for himself as a singer.
Photo by J. Perez-Mesa
In the 80s, Santa Rosa was the first Salsa singer to give a concert at the Carnegie Hall Theatre in New York City. Using his unique talent in "Soneo", he delivered a four-minute improvised version of his famous song "Perdona Me", which was recorded and later released on the album dedicated to this performance. This improvised version became a piece he had to sing repeatedly due to its unpaired success.
Santa Rosa discovered Victor Manuelle, who was also destined to become a great Salsa singer during the 90s, alongside his only rivals, Marc Anthony and La India.
Santa Rosa discovered Victor Manuelle, who was also destined to become a great Salsa singer during the 90s, alongside his only rivals, Marc Anthony and La India.
Releasing several notable hits, such as "Conteo regresivo", "No te vayas", "Que alguien me diga", and many more, Gilberto Santa Rosa held the record for the most number-one albums on the Billboard Tropical Albums chart in 2010. So far, he has sold more than three million records worldwide and won Grammy Awards six times.
Watch one of his performances that showcases everything that makes salsa and soneros tremendous and is one of my absolute favourites.
You can read his full biography at allmusic.com.
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