Jerry Rivera

Jerry Rivera
Jerry Rivera
Background information
Birth name	Geraldo Rivera Rodriguez
Born	June 31 1973 (1973--) (age 34) Humacao, Puerto Rico
Genre(s)	Salsa, Latin Pop,
Years active	1988—Present

Jerry Rivera (born July 31, 1973, in Humacao, Puerto Rico) is a well known Grammy Award and Latin Grammy Award-nominated Puerto Rican salsa singer.

Early years

Rivera, born Geraldo Rivera Rodriguez in Humacao on the eastern coast of Puerto Rico, moved with his family as a baby to the Puerto Rican capital San Juan, where he received his primary and secondary education. His entire family consists of talented musicians, including tropical recording artists Edwin Rivera and younger sister Saned. Two other brothers, Ito and Jose, are professional instrumental musicians.

His parents, also musicians, inspired him to become a musician and as a child he would often accompany his mother Dominga, a singer, and father Edwin, a guitarist and director of Los Barones Trio, during their shows.

His favorite singers are Eddie Santiago, Lalo Rodriguez and, in particular, Frankie Ruiz.^{[citation needed]} In 1986, when he was 13 years old, he accompanied his father who was performing at a hotel in Isla Verde, San Juan. Ruiz, who was a guest at the hotel, appeared and sang a couple of songs with them and had his picture taken alongside Rivera. In 2003 this picture was used by Rivera to make the album cover for his tribute Canto a mi Idolo... Frankie Ruiz ('I sing to my Idol... Frankie Ruiz'), who had died in 1998.

Singing career

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In 1988, Tommy Olivencia heard Rivera sing alongside his father and recommended that he sing solo. When Jerry was 14, his father made a demo and presented it to the CBS music department. They signed Rivera.

With his first album, Empezando A Vivir, Jerry Rivera earned the title "El Bebé de la Salsa" (the salsa baby). This project generated the hit, De La Cabeza A Los Pies ("Head Over Heels").

His second album, Abriendo Puertas ('Opening Doors'), produced the hit songs Esa Niña ('That Girl'), Dime ('Tell Me') and Como un Milagro ('Like a Miracle') became number one hits first in Puerto Rico, then among the Hispanic populations in the United States and finally across Latin America.

His third album, Cuenta Conmigo ('Count on Me'), won three Platinum Record awards in the United States, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Colombia. It became the most-sold salsa album in history, a record previously held by Willie Colon,^[1] and held the number-one spot in the Latin American Billboards for three consecutive months. Its hit songs included the Cuenta Conmigo, Me Estoy Enamorado ('I'm Falling in Love') and Casi Un Hechizo (Neary A Charm). The number one hit for the album was Amores Como El Nuestro (Lovers Like Us) which is considered to be the best song by Rivera. Rivera was awarded two Premio Lo Nuestro Awards for "Singer of the Year" and "Album of the Year" and Sony Records presented him with three Crystal Awards.

The introduction of Amores Como El Nuestro was sampled by Haitian-rapper Wyclef Jean in his 2004 song "Amores como el nuestro" from the soundtrack of Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights which would later become the worldwide number-one 2006 hit "Hips Don't Lie" by Colombian-singer Shakira and Wyclef, too.

In 1993, he released Cara de Niño ('Baby Face') with ¿Qué Hay De Malo? ('What's Wrong About This?') and Dia y Noche Piesno en Ella (Day and Night I Think of Her) as hits. In 1994, as his popularity was rising, he released his first compilation album, Lo Nuevo y lo Mejor (The New and the Best), and contained the single hit Me Estoy Enloqueciendo Por Ti ('I'm Going Crazy For You'). The following year, "Magia" was released with the self-titled album and Ahora Estoy Solo (Now That I'm Alone) In 1996, Rivera released "Fresco" and Una y Mil Veces (One Thousand and One Times) Loco de Amor (Crazy About Love), Te Recordare (I Will Remember You), and Lloraré (I Will Cry were the album hits. Ya No Soy El Niño Aquel was released in 1997 with the self-titled album hit. In 1999, Rivera recorded De Otra Manera ('Another Way'), which featured the bolero Ese (That). Jerry sang the song with his father at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan.

In 2000, Rivera recorded Para Siempre ('Forever'), and the hits were Amor de Novela (Novela Love), Navegándote (Navigating You), and Puerta Abierta (Open Door). This was his album on Sony Latin records.

He has performed in Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras, Panama, the United States, Spain and Japan.

In 2001, he released his self-titled album Jerry Rivera, which would include ballad songs for the first time in his salsa career, and Quiero (I Want). The year after, he recorded Vuela Muy Alto (Fly High) which brought him a new fanbase all over Latin-America and the U.S., with the title track hit the top spot and the top 10 in many charts along with Herida Mortal (Mortal Wound). The following year he released Cantando A Mi Idolo... Frankie Ruiz ('Singing To My Idol... Frankie Ruiz'), a tribute album to one of his idol Frankie Ruiz. The album ganer him a Latin Grammy nominatation and his major album hit was Ruiz's Mi Libertad featuring Voltio.

Rivera played a small role in the movie I Like It Like That and appeared as himself in a Latin American soap opera titled Mi destino eres tu ('You are my destiny') which aired on Univision in the US during November 2005. Rivera has also appeared in various Banco Popular de Puerto Rico productions, including Al Compas de un Sentimiento (dedicated to the late Puerto Rican composer Pedro Flores) and Con la musica por Dentro. The same year, he released Ay Mi Vida (Oh My Vida) which had received poor reviews.

In 2007, he made another tribute album, this time to Argentinan tango singer, Carlos Gardel.^{[citation needed]}

Currently

Jerry Rivera continues to perform with his band, both at home and across the Americas. He is also promoting his newly released, Caribe Gardel.

Discography

• Empezando a Vivir (Beginning to Live') (Released: 1989)
• Abriendo Puertas ('Opening Doors') (Released: 1991)
• Cuenta Conmigo ('Count On Me') (Released: 1992)
• Cara de Niño ('Baby Face') (Released: 1993)
• Jerry Rivera: Lo Nuevo Y Lo Mejor ('Jerry Rivera: The New and the Best')
• Magia ('Magic') (Released: 1995)
• Fresco (album) ('Fresh') (Released: 1996)
• Ya No Soy El Niño Aquel ('I'm Not That Child Anymore') (Released: 1997)
• De Otra Manera ('In Other Words') (Released: 1998)
• Oro Salsero ('Salsa Gold') (Released: 2000)
• Historia 1 ('History 1') (Released: 2000)
• Para Siempre ('Forever') (Released: 2000)
• Jerry Rivera ('Rivera') (Released: 2001) 'also available in box set'
• No Me Olvidaras ('You Won't Forget Me') (Released: 2001)
• Vuela Muy Alto ('Fly Very High') (Released: 2002)
• Cantando A Mi Idolo... Frankie Ruiz ('Singing To My Idol... Frankie Ruiz') (Released: 2003)
• Ay Mi Vida ('Oh My Life') (Released: 2005)
• Caribe Gardel (Released: 2007)

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans

References

External links

• Jerry Rivera at the Music of Puerto Rico website
• Jerry Rivera's Official Website

1. ^ Biografías - Jerry Rivera. Fundación Nacional para la Cultura Popular. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.

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