Daniel Santacruz | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | November 23, 1976 New Jersey, US |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | songwriter, music producer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Penluis Music |
| Website | danielsantacruz |
Daniel Santacruz (born November 23, 1976) is a Dominican singer,songwriter and music producer. Born in New Jersey and raised in the Dominican Republic to a Cuban father and a Dominican mother, Santacruz is a Latin Grammy Award winner.
His musical influences range from Wilfrido Vargas, Fernando Villalona, Sergio Vargas and Juan Luis Guerra to Luis Miguel, Elvis Presley, Julio Iglesias and The Doors, although Santacruz has cited that his biggest musical influence was his mother, who from an early age used to sing boleros to him and also used to make imaginary interviews to a young Daniel with a small tape recorder. His father, also a music lover, introduced him to classical music and to the 1950s and 1960s sound. The first musical notes are known from his maternal grandmother Ana Zulema Victoria who was a pianist and also a piano teacher.
His career began in 1996 as a member of various bands in the Dominican Republic including Massa and Rikarena . During that time Santacruz found to have writing skills and bought his first guitar. In this period he also participated in studio recordings as a background singer for other artists, and also for radio and TV commercials. In 2000 he was part of the MQV Church choir for two years next to Juan Luis Guerra, who is the musical director of the church.
In 2003 together with Ambiorix Francisco, Santacruz produced his first solo album: Por un beso, earning a nomination for Premio Lo Nuestro as Best New Artist.
From 2004 to 2007 Santacruz took a break from the stage and started writing and producing for other artists.
At the end of 2008 his second album Radio Rompecorazones is released, produced by himself with Alejandro Jaen. The single "Adónde va el amor?" along with the album achieved two Latin Grammy Award nominations in 2009, Best Contemporary Tropical Album and Best Tropical Song. Both the single and the album received an incredible support in the United States, Latin America and Europe.
History repeats itself in 2011 when his third album Bachata Stereo produced again with Jaén in collaboration with Richy Rojas, with just two months on the market receives again a nomination in the Latin Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Tropical Album
His song "Lento", a sensual Kizomba fusion which has a video with the Kizomba dancer sensation: Sara Lopez is one of Daniel's biggest hits. To the date Lento has more than 100 million views in Youtube.
In 2016 his album "Toda La Vida" (a tribute for Mexican singer Emmanuel) got a nomination for The Latin Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Tropical Album and the song "La Carretera" co-written with Prince Royce got a nomination as well for best Tropical song.
His album "Momentos De Cine" (2018), also nominated for a Latin Grammy, included the tracks Desnudos, Contando Minutos and Casablanca.
In 2020 Santacruz released his 7th studio album "Larimar" named after Dominican Republic's precious blue stone. "Larimar" won the Latin Grammy for Best Merengue/Bachata album category.
Daniel Santacruz is considered a hit maker, since 2004 Santacruz has written top charting songs for artists such as Prince Royce (Incondicional, Soy El Mismo, Culpa Al Corazón, La Carretera), Shakira (Deja Vu feat Prince Royce), Ha*Ash (Me Gustas Tu), Hector Acosta (Tu veneno, Aprenderé, No moriré, Ojala), Toby Love (Lejos), Reik (Me duele amarte), Monchy y Alexandra (Perdidos, No es una novela), Leslie Grace, Victor Manuel, Charlie Cruz, José Feliciano, Milly Quezada, Andy Andy among others.
Since 2004, Daniel has received 12 ASCAP awards (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), 3 Billboards, 2 Latin American Music Awards, and 3 Premio Lo Nuestro for the songs "Perdidos" and "No Es Una Novela" (performed by the famous Dominican duet Monchy y Alexandra), and "Soy El Mismo" performed Prince Royce besides 6 Latin Grammy nominations for 3 of his own albums and some of his songs. In 2018 Santacruz received the Dominican Republic Soberano Award for Songwriter of the Year for second time in a row.
Daniel Santacruz is married to Ana Mariela Gonzalez and have three children including Penélope Santacruz who is also a singer/songwriter and collaborated with Daniel in the song "Mi Estrellita De Algodón from the album "Larimar", and his son Luis Daniel who is a producer and artist as well. Daniel Santacruz is the brother of singer/songwriter Manny Cruz.
Juan Luis Guerra Seijas is a Dominican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. He has sold 15 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists. Throughout his career, he has won numerous awards including 24 Latin Grammy Awards, three Grammy Awards, and one Latin Billboard Music Award. He won 3 Latin Grammy Awards in 2010, including Album of the Year. In 2012, he won the Latin Grammy Award for Producer of the Year.
Monchy & Alexandra were a bachata musical group from the Dominican Republic. They sang together as a duo beginning in 1998. Their first big hit was "Hoja en Blanco (song)", which they released in 1999. Since then, they had many other hits, such as "Hasta El Fin" and "Perdidos", both from their 2004 album Hasta el Fin, as well as "No Es Una Novela" from their 2006 Éxitos y Más album. They have been often credited with being instrumental in popularizing bachata music outside of the Dominican Republic.
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Ni Es lo Mismo Ni Es Igual is the eighth studio album recorded by Dominican singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra and his backup vocals 4–40. It was released by Karen Records on 15 December 1998 and distributed by PolyGram Latino. It was Guerra's comeback album after four years of silence, out of the public eye and since his conversion to Christianity. It was his first studio album since Fogarate (1994). The album production and songwriting were done by Guerra. The album was supported by the release of four official singles: "Mi PC", "Palomita Blanca", "El Niagara en Bicicleta" and "La Hormiguita". Two singles were released as promotional singles: "Vale La Pena" and "Quisiera".
Elvis Martínez a.k.a. El Camarón is a Dominican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is a well known Bachata artist from the Dominican Republic. He is known for hits such as "Maestra", "La Luz De Mis Ojos", "Asi Te Amo", "Yo Te Voy Amar", "Laudano", "Directo al Corazon", "El Profesor","Aventura", among others.
Fogaraté! is the seventh album of the famous Dominican songwriter and musician Juan Luis Guerra. It was released on July 19, 1994. The album mixed a variety of music genres including rural and flolklroic rots of merengue called "Perico Ripao" with elements of African soukus music and Tropical Music such as Reggae with the collaboration of African guitarist Diblo Dibala and Dominican accordionist Francisco Ulloa, along with Son, Bachata and Salsa. Also, the album features a particular, bachata-styled adaptation of the Lacrimosa movement from Mozart's Requiem Mass in D Minor and Guerra's first song fully in English "July 19". Exploring lyrics and themes about magical realism of Latin American literature and commenting on the politics of the Caribbean, for many fans and critics, Fogaraté! is one of his most musically complex album.
Anthony "Romeo" Santos is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer who is best known as the frontman and lead vocalist of the bachata group Aventura. In 2002, the song "Obsesión" was number one in Italy for 16 consecutive weeks. He released several albums with Aventura before the group broke up. Since then, Santos has embarked on a solo career which has created seven number one songs on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart and seventeen number ones on the Tropical Airplay chart. Romeo Santos has sold over 24 million copies making him one of the best-selling Latin artists.
Geoffrey Royce Rojas, known professionally as Prince Royce, is an American singer. At an early age, Royce took an interest in music, and in his teenage years began experimenting with music and writing poetry. By age nineteen, Royce met Andrés Hidalgo, who became his manager. Hidalgo later introduced Royce to record producer Sergio George, who immediately signed him to his label after hearing three of his demos.
"Mi PC" is a song by Dominican Republic singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra and his band 4-40 from his eighth studio album, Ni Es lo Mismo Ni Es Igual (1998). The song was released as the lead single from the album in November 1998 by Karen Records. The song was written and produced by Guerra. It is a pop merengue track in which Guerra uses computer terminology to narrate a love story. "Mi PC" was met with positive reactions from music critics who found the lyrics to be clever and its music catchy.
"El Niágara en Bicicleta" is a song by Dominican Republic singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra and his band 4-40 from his eighth studio album, Ni Es lo Mismo Ni Es Igual (1998). The song was written and produced by Guerra. It was released as the third single from the album in 1999 by Karen Records. A merengue rap song, it sees the protagonist finding himself in a hospital that is in poor condition, based on Guerra's experience in one. The song received positive reactions from three music critics, who praised who praise its music and social conscious lyrics.
Prince Royce is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Prince Royce; it was released on March 2, 2010, through Top Stop Music. The production was handled primarily by Andrés Hidalgo, with other contributions made by Sergio George, George Meña, Bastiany, Gregory "Greko" Rojo and Nápoles. All songs were co-produced by Prince Royce and D'Lesly Lora.
Bachata #1's, Vol. 2 is a compilation album released by Machete Music. The recording features tracks performed by several artist from the bachata genre, such as Aventura, Xtreme, Toby Love, Óptimo, Monchy & Alexandra, Leny, Domenic Marte, Zacarías Ferreíra, Frank Reyes, Carlos & Alejandra, Joe Veras, Yoskar "El Prabu Sarante", and Alex Bueno. It also features a bachata performed by Latin pop singer Luis Fonsi exclusive to this release.
Bachata #1's is a compilation album released by Machete Music on July 3, 2007. The album features several artists from the bachata genre, such as Xtreme, Aventura, Monchy & Alexandra, Alex Bueno, Frank Reyes, and Los Toros Band with production being handled by Anthony Santos, Lenny Santos, Sergio George and Franklin Romero among others. Musically, the album features musical arrangements combining bachata and R&B.
Soy El Mismo is the third studio album by American singer Prince Royce. The album was released on October 8, 2013, by Sony Music Latin and became Royce's third number 1 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart in the United States. With Soy el Mismo, Royce also reached a career-best peak of number 14 on the US Billboard 200.
Todo Tiene Su Hora is the 13th studio album by Dominican singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra and his band 4.40. It was released on November 11, 2014, by Capitol Latin and was produced by Juan Luis Guerra & Janina Rosado. Like his previous albums, the album is composed by variety of tropical music genres such as Bachata, Merengue, Salsa and Son but different instrumentation used normally in classical music such as strings, violins. Guerra described the album as "innovative" and explored lyrics raging from love and romance to social conscience and protest against political corruption. The record encompassed elements of funk and Jazz with merengue and classical music with bachata.
Vicente García Guillén is a Dominican musician, singer and composer. He is the former lead singer of the Dominican alternative rock band Calor Urbano, which he left in 2010 to pursue a solo career. Garcia has collaborated in concerts with renowned artists such as Juan Luis Guerra, Alejandro Sanz, Cultura Profetica, Juanes, Ximena Sariñana and Maná among others. He has won three Latin Grammy awards including Best New Artist in 2017.
The Latin Grammy Award for Best Merengue/Bachata Album is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists in the United States and internationally.
The 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards was held on November 16, 2017, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It was broadcast on Univision at 8PM ET\PT. This marked the tenth year Las Vegas hosts the Latin Grammy Awards and also marked the telecasts return to the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Friends & Legends is the fifth studio album by Dominican singer Henry Santos. Released by his own record label, HustleHard Entertainment on May 7, 2021. This album features from artist on the rise and artist that Santos considers friends. It also featured guest appearances from legends of the bachata genre like Alexandra from the famous duo Monchy & Alexandra, Joe Veras, Luis Vargas, and Anthony Santos 'El Mayimbe'. It also included the legendary typical merengue artist El Prodigio.
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