Robi Draco Rosa

Draco Cornelius Rosa Suárez (born June 27, 1969), also known as Robi Draco Rosa, Draco Rosa or simply Draco, is an American-born Puerto Rican, multiple-time Grammy and Latin Grammy winning musician, singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, poet, painter, dancer, actor, writer and entrepreneur.

Draco Rosa was born Robert Edward Rosa Suárez in Long Island, New York to Puerto Rican parents and was raised in Peñuelas, Puerto Rico and Ponce, Puerto Rico. He is fluent in Spanish, English, Italian, German, Japanese and Portuguese.

He originally garnered fame as a member of boy band Menudo in the 1980s, singing lead on the band’s biggest stateside hit, «Hold Me» and featuring prominently in the accompanying music video. After leaving the band he moved to Brazil where he released two albums, achieving mainstream success. Afterwards he moved to California and formed the band Maggie’s Dream, which splitted after only one album, allowing him to resume his solo career. He has released numerous studio and experimental albums, and has composed multiple songs for Ednita Nazario, Julio Iglesias and former Menudo band-mate, Ricky Martin. He has also been featured on VH1’s Behind the Music.

Rosa has been highly influenced by the works of Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Iggy Pop, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Luis Alberto Spinetta, The Doors, Camarón de la Isla, Caetano Veloso and Glenn Danzig. In 1996 he released the Latino alternative rock album Vagabundo produced by Phil Manzanera.

In 1988 he made his motion picture debut in the motion picture Salsa, which was a big hit in Puerto Rico. During the filming of the movie, he met actress Angela Alvarado who would later become his wife.

In the 1990’s he helped launch Ricky Martin’s musical career into a new global setting by writing and producing various of his hottest singles including María, La Vida Loca, La Copa de La Vida, She Bangs, and Shake Your Bon-Bon. Rosa toured with Lenny Kravitz during the summer of 2004 to promote his concept album Mad Love.[1]

In April 2011, Draco was diagnosed with a non-hodgkin lymphoma cancer near his liver. He underwent alternative and traditional treatment in Texas and California. This kept Draco in a hiatus for almost a year until his return in March 2012, when he started recording his latest album with «Vida», and gave a concert with Juan Luis Guerra and Rubén Blades at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico Jose Miguel Agrelot. In December 2012, he was declared cancer-free.