As a Bronx native, selling out Yankee Stadium twice has been a dream come true for “The King of Bachata” Romeo Santos — and an admirable feat to his fellow native New Yorkers who know it’s not always easy to make it in the Big Apple, let alone the world.
On April 27, Santos fans were ecstatic to see The King of Bachata take over New York City yet again as he performed live on the TODAY Plaza on to kick off TODAY’s week-long Viva TODAY series.
Before he took the stage, Santos gave TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie a few pointers in doing the bachata — and she did well!
Born in the Bronx in 1981 and raised by his stay-at-home mother and construction worker father, Santos had never imagined the scope of his local and international fame as he got his start as a shy, 13-year-old kid in the church choir. Yet he was destined for super-stardom and went on to start a boy band with his cousins and his friends called Aventura, which became hugely successful.
“I like to describe myself as a humble kid from the Bronx, ya know? It’s blessed to have so many humble fans that are so loyal and supportive,” he told “NBC Nightly News'” Elvin Polanco in a recent interview.
Santos is on fire right now and is reaching crossover success — so now his Latin fans have to share him with the rest of the world.
According to Billboard, Santos tops the list of Billboard Latin Music Awards finalists this year with 21 entries. Santos has had seven No. 1s on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. His single, “Odio,” featuring Drake, spent 13 weeks atop the list — his longest running No. 1 song. On the Billboard Hot 100, “Odio” was the highest debut for a Spanish-language song in the 55-year history of the chart when it arrived at No. 45. Billboard also ranked Santos the top Latin music artist of 2014.
Santos’s album Formula, Vol. 2, which also features Nicki Minaj, Marc Anthony and Carlos Santana debuted at No. 1 on the Top Latin Albums chart and spent 11 weeks atop the list.
He’s also considered “YouTube royalty” — “Santos’ music video for his 2013 hit ‘Propuesta Indecente’ has over half a billion hits on YouTube,” TODAY points out. “The counter is currently at 647,395,459 and gaining. To put that number in perspective, that means ‘Propuesta Indecente’ is ahead of Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy,’ Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep,’ Katy Perry’s ‘Firework,’ and Lady Gaga’s video for ‘Bad Romance’ — by millions of views.”
He also starred in “Furious 7,” the hugely successful latest installment of the “Fast & Furious” franchise. Santos plays Armando (aka “Mando”), “a helpful friend of Dom and Brian’s in the Dominican Republic,” who helps Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) by providing her safety at his mansion.
Moved by Bachata as a kid, Santos, 33, says that he wanted to bring something fresh and “new to the table” to the traditional Dominican genre.
Well, the ladies are clearly thrilled with what he’s bringing to the table!
“They are all my Juliettes.” He smiled.
“What about the other Romeos out there do you worry about them getting jealous?” Polanco asked.
“Well those aren’t Romeos, there’s only one!”
Santos, who just added more arena dates to his May-July tour, will perform at The Billboard Latin Music Awards on Thursday, April 30, at 7 p.m. Other performers include Juanes, Natalia Jimenez, EDM DJ Afrojack, Wisin, Daddy Yankee, Carlos Santana, J Balvin, Carlos Vives, Julion Alvarez y Su Norteño Banda, Ana Gabriel, Lucero, Alejandro Sanz and Roberto Carlos.
Check out Santos’ interview with “NBC Nightly News.”
–Courtesy of Latin Post