Biography

Possessing a sweet, smooth, lushly romantic tenor, chart-topping singer, songwriter, and producer Romeo Santos rose to fame as lead vocalist for world-renowned boy band Aventura, and embarked on a massively successful solo career in 2011. Santos' expert blend of tropical roots and bachata with hip-hop, trap, dance beats, Latin soul, neo-electro, pop, and rock made his 2011 debut album Formula, Vol. 1 a Top Five hit in the U.S., while 2014's Formula, Vol. 2 was a multi-platinum smash. His success continued with 2017's star-studded Golden and 2019's Utopia, which featured the hit single "Inmortal" performed by a reunited Aventura, and spawned the 2021 concert document Utopia Live from MetLife Stadium. The following year Santos completed his Formula album trilogy with Formula, Vol. 3. Born Anthony Santos on July 21, 1981 in the Bronx, New York, he got his start as a singer in the choir of his church before co-founding Aventura with his cousin Henry Santos and brothers Lenny Santos and Max Santos. Originally known as Los Tinellers, the teenagers made their full-length debut with Trampa de Amor (1995), followed by Generation Next (1999), their first album as Aventura. Fusing bachata with R&B, pop, and hip-hop, Aventura broke through to mainstream success with the worldwide chart-topping smash hit "Obsesión," from their third album, We Broke the Rules (2002). Subsequent albums Love & Hate (2003), God's Project (2005), K.O.B. Live (2006), and The Last (2009) were chock-full of similarly styled hit singles. With nine Top Five hits on the U.S. Latin singles chart to their name, Aventura officially called it quits in 2011, as Santos embarked on a much-anticipated solo career. In conjunction with Sony Music, he made his solo debut with the chart-topping Latin hit single "You," followed by "I Promise," another number one smash, this one featuring Usher. Largely written and produced by Santos himself, 2011's Formula, Vol. 1 marked his full-length debut. He then burnished 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 drafted major stars from both the Latin and pop worlds -- Drake, Nicki Minaj, Marc Anthony, and Tego Calderón, among others. Released in 2013 as Formula, Vol. 2, the album went platinum 11 times over in the U.S, and double-platinum and gold in Spain. Including a pair of chart-topping singles ("Propuesta Indecente" and "Odio"), it hit number one in several countries and reached number five on the U.S. pop charts, remaining in the top rungs of the Latin Albums charts for more 120 weeks. In early 2017, he returned with the single "Héroe Favorito" and released his third album, Golden, on his birthday. Boasting guest appearances by Jean Luis Guerra, Ozuna, and Nicky Jam, the album topped the Latin and Tropical albums charts and peaked at ten on the Top 200. Achieving multi-platinum status, it netted six charting singles including "Héroe Favorito," "Imitadora," and "Bella y Sensual." The album's video teaser racked up over eight million views on YouTube the week of its release. The video for "Imitadora" had 52 million views on its own. In April 2019, Santos released Utopia, his fourth studio album. It included guest spots on virtually every track. Its premier single, "Inmortal," marked the official studio-recorded reunion of Aventura (who had been performing segments during Santos' concerts for a couple of years). Other hits included "La Demanda" with Raulín Rodríguez, "Millonario" with Elvis Martínez, and "El Beso Que No Le Di" with Kiko Rodríguez. Certified five-times platinum, Utopia entered the Latin and Tropical albums charts at number one and peaked at eight on the Top 200 and charted in seven countries. In September 2021, Santos followed it with Utopia Live from MetLife Stadium. The next year, the singer returned to his Formula album series, closing out the trilogy with Formula, Vol. 3 which featured the hit single "Sus Huellas" and an array of high-profile guests including Justin Timberlake ("Sin Fin") and Rosalía ("El Pañuelo"). ~ Jason Birchmeier & Thom Jurek, Rovi