Romeo Santos is a bachata singer / songwriter who rose to fame in the 2000s as the lead vocalist for the world-famous band Aventura, before embarking on a successful solo career in 2011.
He was born Anthony Santos on July 21, 1981 in the Bronx, New York; He began his singing career in his church choir before founding Aventura with his cousin Henry Santos and his brothers Lenny Santos and Max Santos. Originally known as Los Tinellers, the teens made their debut with Trampa de Amor (1995), followed by Generation Next (1999), their first album with the group Aventura.
By fusing bachata with R&B and hip-hop, Aventura achieved general success with the worldwide hit “Obsesión”, from his third album, “Rompimos lastamos” (2002). Later albums like Love & Hate (2003), God’s Project (2005), KOB Live (2006), and The Last (2009) were full of hit singles of similar style. With nine Top Five hits on the United States Singles Chart, Aventura disbanded in 2011 and Santos embarked on a highly anticipated solo career.
Along with Sony Music, he made his solo debut with the Latin single “You,” followed by “I Promise,” another number one hit, this one featuring Usher. Written and produced largely by Santos himself, Formula 2011, vol. 1 was his full-length debut album. He then polished his success with a live album, The King Stays King: Sold Out at Madison Square Garden, released in 2012.
For his second solo album, Santos recruited big stars from the Latin and pop worlds – Drake, Nicki Minaj, Marc Anthony, and Tego Calderón, among others. Finally released in 2013 as Formula, vol. 2, the album was multiplatinum 11 times more. including a couple of chart-topping singles (“Indecent Proposal”, “Hate”), it reached number one in several countries and reached number five on the US charts, remaining in the upper echelons of the charts. Latin album charts for over 120 weeks.
In early 2017, he returned with the single “Favorite Hero” and released his third album, Golden, on his birthday, July 21. The video for the album amassed more than eight million views on YouTube in the week of its release.