“El Caballero de la Salsa”
Gilberto Santa Rosa’s musical elegance and style has made him one of the most prominent figures in popular music. His countless accolades in the recording industry reaffirm his validity through the years, among them the 2002 ASCAP Latin Heritage Award, 6 GRAMMY awards most recently, Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Necesito Un Bolero. His rewarding musical path and consistency as one of the most listened to recording artists on the radio having achieved 14 number one hits on Billboard’s Tropical Airplay chart, record sales history including a multitude of Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum album certifications, and the Guinness World Record Holder of the most #1’s on Billboard’s Tropical albums chart (12 in total) make him one of the most successful Latin music vocalists in the world. While in his teens, Gilberto attended La Escuela Libre de Música de San Juan, Puerto Rico, and even though he played the saxophone and the trumpet his desire for singing was always present. On January 6, 1975 he had his national debut as a vocalist on a televised Christmas special. This marked the beginning of a wonderful musical career that lasted for four decades. His presence with La Grande orchestra for two years, as well as his participation with the groups Don Perigñon, Fantasía Boricua of Manolito Rodríguez, and the Puerto Rico All Star Tommy Olivencia, placed the young Puerto Rican on an important pedestal in the Salsa movement of the 70’s. Guided by his musical desires, he became part of the Willie Rosario orchestra in 1981. This movement placed him as one of the new voices of the Salsa movement in Puerto Rico as well as the international scene. The union to Willie Rosario added musical hits like “Lluvia” and “Botaron la pelota”, songs that have transcended through time. His path as a solo singer was established in the second half of 80’s. A period where he became known as the “Caballero de la Salsa”. Gilberto’s unique style as a tropical artist appeared in early albums Salsa en Movimiento, Keeping Cool, Good Vibrations and De Amor y Salsa, for Combo Records. After 1990, Santa Rosa became part of multinational record label Sony Discos (currently Sony Music Latin), recording almost twenty albums including such hits as; Perspectiva (1991), A dos tiempos de un tiempo (1992), “En Vivo Desde Carnegie Hall” (1995), Esencia (1996), Expresión (1999), Intenso (2001), Sólo bolero (2003), Auténtico (2004), Directo al corazón (2006), Contraste (2007), all awarded by the American Recording Association “RIAA” for the success in sales. Una Navidad con Gilberto (2008), Irrepetible (2010), Gilberto Santa Rosa (2012) and Necesito Un Bolero (2015). Billboard Magazine named Gilberto Santa Rosa Tropical Artist of the Decade in 2010 through his successful streak of hit albums and singles. Gilberto Santa Rosa was awarded the Lifetime Culture Achievement award in September 2012 in New York City.
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