Michael Stuart

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Michael Stuart

Background information
Born	January 9, 1975 (1975-01-09) (age 33) New York City, New York, United States
Origin	Puerto Rico
Genre(s)	Latin, Salsa, Pop, Latin pop
Occupation(s)	singer-songwriter, actor
Instrument(s)	Singing
Years active	1996–present
Label(s)	RMM Records & Video, Machete Records

Michael Stuart (born January 9, 1975), is a salsa singer and actor of Puerto Rican descent.

1 Early years
2 Singing career
3 Discography
- 3.1 Albums
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Early years

Stuart's parents emigrated from Puerto Rico and settled in New York City in the 1960s where he was born. There Stuart received his primary and secondary education. He was musically influenced by his uncle Israel "Timbalero" Stuart. Stuart grew up listening to hip hop and rock music. He grew to love many kinds of music, especially Latin music. His uncle "Timbalero" was a professional musician and bandleader. Stuart would accompany his uncle to many rehearsals where he would sing and play the maracas or congas. He taught himself to play the trumpet and most of the times he would sing to the tones of Hector Lavoe and El Gran Combo. It was Domingo Quiñones who had influenced Stuart's style of singing.

[edit] Singing career

With the help of his uncle, it wasn't long before Stuart was singing back-up to the likes of Johnny Rivera and Marc Anthony. In 1996, Stuart recorded his first CD, Cuento de la Vecinidad (Tale of the Neighborhood), which included a remake of Michael Jackson's "The Lady in My Life". His debut CD was a hit in the Hispanic community. He was awarded the Farandula Magazine "New Artist of the Year 1996-97 Award" and The Tropical New Artist 1997 Award by the Tu Musica Awards and was nominated for the "New Artist of the Year" at the Lo Nuestro Awards in 1997. That year Stuart also sang in a Banco Popular production honoring Bobby Capo, featuring Danny Rivera, Jose Feliciano, and Chucho Avellanet.

In 1998, Stuart recorded his second CD, Retratos (Pictures). Among the awards that he won for this recording were the "New Salsa Artist Award" and the Paoli Award. He also debuted in the Puerto Rican version of the musical play Jesus Christ Superstar in San Juan, alongside Olga Tañon. Stuart was awarded the "Best New Actors Award" by the Theater Circle for his performance. In the 1998 Banco Popular production honoring composer Rafael Hernandez, Stuart sang alongside Ricky Martin and Gilberto Santa Rosa.

In 1999, Stuart received a special recognition from the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, and he also received the "Peoples Choice Award" in the Tropical category at the Tu Music Awards.

In 2000, Stuart released his third album, Subeme el Volumen (Bring up the Volume). That year he sang "Algo En Ella" ("Something in Her") for the film soundtrack of Under Suspicion, a movie that included the participation of Miguel Angel Suarez and Nydia Caro. The soundtrack also included songs by fellow Puerto Ricans Carlos Ponce, Ednita Nazario and Olga Tañon. Stuart also sang two songs in Obra Maestra (Masterpiece) by Eddie Palmieri and the late Tito Puente.

In 2002, Stuart released his fourth CD, Michael Stuart. In 2004, Stuart released the Latin Pop album Sin Miedo, which was nominated for 2005 Latin Grammy for Best Tropical-Contemporary Album of the Year.

In 2005, he starred in a musical event titled Homenajes that toured throughout the United States, South America, and Europe, paying tribute to some of his favorite and legendary Salsa/Rumba performers of all time.

In 2006, Stuart released Back to da Barrio, which is a salsa album of notable reggaeton songs sung by other reggaeton artists, such as "Ven Bailalo", "Pobre Diabla", and "Mayor Que Yo".

Stuart's latest release is a salsa album entitled Sentimiento de un Rumbero, released on Machete Records in 2007. He is active in the music business and participates on stage productions in Puerto Rico.