Robi Dräco Rosa
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Dräco Cornelius Rosa (born Robert Edward Rosa Suarez; June 27, 1969 – ) is a multi-talented artist from Puerto Rico. He is a composer, writer, singer, musician, poet, painter, and actor. Rosa originally garnered fame as a member of boy band Menudo in the 1980s. He is best known for his solo career and for writing hit songs for fellow artists, among them Ricky Martin, Julio Iglesias and Ednita Nazario.
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[edit] Biography
Born Roberto Edwardo Rosa Suarez on June 27, 1969, Wesbury, Long Island, New York. As "Robby Rosa" he was a member of Puerto Rican singing Menudo from Valentine's Day, 1984 to 1987. Robby was the first band member ever to join the singing group who was not a native of Puerto Rico. He was also the first member who spoke English fluently, Robby grew up in New York and moved to Puerto Rico at a young age. His interest in music led him to audition for Menudo and replaced Johnny Lozada and he quickly became a fan favorite. With the groups cross-over occurring at the time, Robby timing to join Menudo was perfectas he was able to sing most of the English songs. The groups first English album Reaching Out featured a single which was in Hollywood hit Cannonball Run 2. The single was sung by Robby. On Robby's second album with the group, his first Spanish single hit was called Sabes A Chocolate, On his third album with Menudo another English hit was followed with Hold Me which gained airplay on most mainstream radio stations and had a music video that gained play. He was replaced in Menudo by Ruben Gomez after the band's manager denied Rosa the opportunity to contribute songs to the group. However, Rosa quit at age 18, 2 years over the limit set by management of the boy-band.
After Menudo, Rosa took up residence in Brazil, recording some music in Portuguese. Upon his return to the United States he went on to star in a minor Hollywood hit, the 1988 movie Salsa. On the set, Rosa fell in love with his co-star Angela Alvarado. They wed a few months after the movie's release, started raising a family and have also been working as partners in Rosa's different projects ever since.
In 1990 Rosa moved to Los Angeles and formed a rock band called "Maggie's Dream" which released an album under Capitol Records. In the early 1990's Rosa legally changed his name to "Draco Cornelius Rosa" (draco means "dragon" in Latin) saying he wanted to leave his old image and lifestyle behind. During this time, he released two albums which differ greatly from each other. The first one, Frío was released in 1994 and featured a pop sound along with soft rock influences. His second major work, Vagabundo, was released in 1996 and marked a drastic change from the previous album and image. Under the name Draco, Rosa created a heavy and dark album that carried elements of goth, psychedelia, and heavy metal. Vagabundo is considered one of the greatest Rock en Español albums of all time.
During this time Rosa began collaborating with former Menudo colleague Ricky Martin, co-writing many of Martin's biggest hits, among them "Livin' La Vida Loca", "She Bangs", "Maria" and "The Cup of Life". He and co-writer Desmond Child earned Grammy nominatios for their work with Martin.
In 1998 he released his first english-language album, titled Songbirds and Roosters. It featured the English versions of the tracks from his debut album Frío. In 2001 Rosa released a greatest hits album called Libertad del Alma which featured songs from an upcoming album in which he had been working for more than three years.
In 2003, Draco again re-invented himself yet again, in preparation for the release of his most ambitious project yet, an album titled Mad Love Released in March 2004, the album contained tragic love themes in different musical genres ranging from hard rock to flamenco ballads. The album was comprised of 15 songs, 3 of which are sung in Spanish. The album was the first to earn Rosa international recognition beyond Latin America, becoming widely popular in Europe. Rosa toured the continent with Lenny Kravitz in the summer of 2004.
Rosa received a Latin Grammy Award in 2004 for the video clip of the song "Más y Más". In September 2004, Draco took his show to Puerto Rico's new 18,000-capacity Coliseo de Puerto Rico, selling out the venue. A CD/DVD of the event was released on December 6, 2005, titled DRACO Al Natural. He capped 2005 with 7 sold out concerts at Puerto Rico's "Bellas Artes" theatre in the month of September and proceeded to focus on a new Spanish-language album for 2006.
Rosa currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife Angela and two sons, Revel and Redamo, although he also has a residence in Puerto Rico. Rosa has been known for using many different pseudonyms when writing songs for other artists. Among them are "Dolores del Infante", "Ian Blake" and "Phantom Vox". On December 19, 2005 multi-artist Celso Gonzalez introduced an installation called "El Ultimo Viaje: El Entierro de Robi Rosa" ("The Final Voyage: The Burial of Robi Rosa") at Puerto Rico's Museo de Arte Contemporaneo.
2006... 1.recording new songs at Phantom Vox Studios, Los Angeles Ca. (2007 release) 2.re-vamping phantomvox website..www.phvx.com (ready-July 2006) 3.Montreux jazz festival/on stage with Santana, Herbie Hancock and Deep Purple (June 29,2006)
[edit] Discography
- Draco Al Natural (2005)
- Como me Acuerdo (2004)
- Mad Love (2004)
- Libertad Del Alma (2001)
- Songbirds & Roosters (1998)
- Vagabundo (1996)
- Frio (1994)
[edit] Sometimes Credited As
- Robi Draco Rosa
- Robby Rosa
- Draco Cornelius Rosa
- Ian Blake
- Dolores Del Infante
[edit] Maggie’s Dream
Maggie’s Dream (1991) Father Mother / Human / Living for the times / One in six
[edit] Ricky Martin
[edit] A Medio Vivir (1995)
Fuego de noche, Nieve de día / María / Revolución / Somos la semilla / Volverás /
[edit] Vuelve (1997)
Por arriba, Por abajo / Lola, Lola / Casi un bolero / Corazonado / La Bomba / Hagamos el amor /La copa de la vida / Perdido sin ti
[edit] Ricky Martin (1999)
Livin’ la vida loca / Spanish eyes / She’s all I ever had / Shake your bon-bon / I am made of you / Love you for a day / The cup of life / Livin’ la vida loca (Spanish version) / Bella
[edit] Sound Loaded (2000)
She bangs / Saint tropez / Come to me / Loaded / Amor / She bangs (Spanish version) / Ven a mi / Dame más
[edit] Ednita Nazario
Más Grande Que Grande(1999) Más grande que grande
[edit] Julio Iglesias
Noche de cuatro Lunas (2000) Te voy a contar mi vida / No es amor, ni es amar (Gone too far) / Noche de cuatro lunas (American Lady)
[edit] Sisqó
Unleash The Dragon(2000) Thong Song
[edit] Wyclef J. f/The Rock & Melky Sedeck
(2000) It doesn’t matter
[edit] Quotes
- "Risk everything, regret nothing."
- --Robi Draco Rosa
- "Music is meant to be felt and not understood."
- --Robi Draco Rosa
- "Don't be afraid of trying it, be afraid of not trying it"
- --Manuel "Manolo" Liaño
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[[Category:Draco Rosa
