Draco Rosa

Draco Rosa
Birth name	Robert Edward Rosa Suárez
Born	(1969-06-27) June 27, 1969 Long Island, New York
Genres	Rock (Latin, Alternative, Art, Experimental, Indie) Electronic (as Mr. Blake)
Occupation(s)	Musician Singer-Songwriter Record Producer Poet Entrepreneur
Years active	1984-present
Labels	RCA Records Phantom Vox Sony Latin
Website	www.phantomvox.com/draco

Draco Cornelius Rosa Suárez (born June 27, 1969), also known as Robi Draco Rosa, Draco Rosa or simply Draco, is a Puerto Rican Grammy Award and Latin Grammy Award winning musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, poet 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 originally garnered fame as a member of boy band Menudo in the 1980s. In recent years, he has appeared on VH1's Behind the Music, I Love the '80s and Where Are They Now? in archived footage of early concerts and videos. He has released four studio albums, consisting of "Vagabundo", "Mad Love", "Vino" and "Amor Vincit Omnia".

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", a big hit in Puerto Rico and the only film Rosa starred in. During the filming of the movie, he met Angela Alvarado who would later become his wife.

He helped launch Ricky Martin's musical career into a new global setting by writing and producing some of his hottest singles including "Livin' la Vida Loca" and "She Bangs". Rosa toured with Lenny Kravitz during the summer of 2004 to promote his 2nd all English concept album Mad Love. His 2009 album Amor Vincit Omnia was nominated for Best Latin Rock, Alternative Or Urban Album for the 53rd Grammy Awards.

In April 2011, Draco was diagnosed with a non-hodgkin lymphoma cancer near his liver. Her underwent alternative treatment in Houston and Santa Monica then traditional treatment. This kept Draco off stage for almost a year until his return in March 2012 with Juan Luis Guerra and Rubén Blades at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico Jose Miguel Agrelot. His latest album "Vida" will be released on February 2013.

Career

At a young age, his family moved him to Puerto Rico, where he became a member of the in­creasingly popular band Menudo. Rosa grew disenchanted with the band, particularly since he was not allowed the opportunity to write songs for them, so he decided to leave the group in 1987. Residing in Baha Beach, Rio de Janeiro, he spent time with local artists, adding to his musical education. Two Portuguese-language solo albums later, he moved to New York, where he formed a group by the name of "Maggie's Dream". The group's energy and stridency earned it a spot on tours with Fishbone, the Black Crowes, and Faith No More.

Wanting to extend the reach of his talents into other media, Rosa moved to Los Angeles. There, he swiftly landed the lead in the feature film Salsa, on the set of which he met his future wife, actress/director Angela Alvarado.

He also appeared alongside Christopher Mitchum in a German film entitled "Gummibärchen küßt man nicht". Rosa wrote, produced and performed two songs ("Angela" and "Little Woman") for the soundtrack of this film, which was released by RCA Records under his publishing company, Seiba Tree Music.

Solo career

A solo contract with Sony Music Latin in 1993, enabled him to record in Spain the first of his highly celebrated Spanish-language solo albums, Frío.

In between solo projects, Draco worked on Ricky Martin's A Medio Vivir. He co­wrote and co-produced the majority of the songs on the album, including the hit single, "María", conquering a space on the Billboard Top 10. At the same time, he formed a band with former Circle Jerks member Zander Schloss called "Sweet and Low", playing gigs around town.

Robi Draco Rosa "Vagabundo" 1996.

The 1996 release of his second album, Vagabundo, recorded in England and produced by Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera, has been hailed as a "tour de force of introspective haunting tunes". Awards and titles regarding the album did not lack either: the video for the song "Madre Tierra", directed by Angela Alvarado, won Best Rock Video in the 1997 Billboard Latin Music Awards; "Vagabundo" was included in Spin Magazine's 1997 Top 10 list of "greatest rock en español records of all time".

Entertainment Weekly named Rosa to their IT LIST of the 100 most creative people in the entertainment industry. Banco Popular in­cluded Rosa in its exhibit, "Acángana: 100 Años de la Música Puertorriqueña", ("Acángana: 100 years of Puerto Rican Music") which opened in the summer of 2000.

An English-language version of Frío, entitled Songbirds and Roosters was re­leased in 1998. As he toured with his songs from Vagabundo, Rosa wrote and recorded Ricky Martin's chart-topping album Vuelve under the pseudonym Ian Blake, which netted five hit singles including "The Cup of Life" (as well as it's Spanish version "La Copa de la Vida"). Draco formed Phantom Vox Corporation, a multimedia production company that joined Dräco Cornelius Music with other writers under Phantom Vox Publishing, the company's subdivision for licensing of original compositions. Phantom Vox Studios, Rosa's own multimedia recording studio and another subdivision of the company, worked as Music Supervisor for Livin’ the Life, an independent movie that won the Best Film Award in the 1999 New York Latin Film Fest. The studio (Phantom Vox) filmed and edited the video for “Commitment #4,” a track Draco composed and recorded in dedication to the freedom of the island of Vieques, a municipality of Puerto Rico.

Paz Para Vieques

See also: United States Navy in Vieques, Puerto Rico

On April, 30th 2001, Rosa was arrested for civil disobedience when protestors invaded the U.S. Navy's security zone surrounding the Island of Vieques by boat. Rosa and others were forced by navy personnel to kneel on rocks during their detainment. They were not allowed a phone call nor were they provided any shelter during the night, where they had to sleep outdoors in the rain. Rosa, including Robert Kennedy Jr. and Edward James Olmos, U.S. Representative Luis Gutiérrez among others were transported to Guaynabo Detention Center where they awaited arraignment. Rosa has been a vocal supporter of environmental issues and was vehemently opposed to the government's use of Vieques as a training site.

Producer

Between 1998 and 1999, he wrote and recorded Ricky Martin's highly cele­brated first English album, which includes the now legendary single "Livin' la Vida Loca". The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard album charts, skyrocket­ing afterwards to an astounding 20 million albums sold worldwide. For Martin's album Sound Loaded (2000), Rosa produced four tracks, including the hit sin­gle She Bangs". The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 42nd Grammy Awards. It won the American Music Award for Favorite Latin Artist and was nominated for the Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist. It was also nominated for the Juno Award for International Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2000. The album has sold over 22 million copies, worldwide.

Rosa also produced Corazón (1999), the platinum album of Ednita Nazario, for which he also wrote and produced the song “Más Grande Que Grande” under the name Dolores del Infante, which reached a spot in the Top 10 Latin Billboards for 10 weeks. Corazón was nominated for the 2000 Billboard Latin Music Award for Female Pop Album Of The Year.; he wrote and produced three songs for world- renowned singer Julio Iglesias' album, Noche De Cuatro Lunas (2000). Rosa was one of three singer/songwriters honored in Banco Popular's Christmas Special Encuen­tro (2002) alongside Juan Luis Guerra and Rubén Blades.

After many successful projects as a music producer, Draco decided to take a hiatus in 2001 and focus on other endeavors.

Mad Love

Robi Draco Rosa "Mad Love" 2004.

In 2002 Draco redirected his energies again toward his own music. While he worked on new material, he released Libertad del Alma, a compilation album which debuted at the top of the Latin Album Billboard chart based only on its sales in Puerto Rico. After two years of experimentation and sessions in studios around the world, Draco released Mad Love on March 30, 2004. With most songs in English, col­laborations with musicians from all over the world and two videos included in the CD—for "Dancing in the Rain" and "Lie Without a Lover," both directed by Angela Alvarado Rosa—Mad Love debuted at #2 on Billboard's Heatseeker charts and was considered the #1 Latin album of 2004 by New York's Newsday. The video for "Más y Más" (one of only four Spanish tracks on the album), also directed by Angela Alvarado Rosa, won the 2004 Latin Grammy Award for Best Video.

A few months after the release of Mad Love, Draco released another compila­tion album destined specifically for the Latin market entitled Como Me Acuerdo, which included four new tracks along with some of his most revered songs. He kicked off a long international tour to support both albums. The tour enabled him to step on stages in many major US cities, as well as Japan, Singapore, England, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Panama, Brazil, Colombia and Argentina, among others. In Bogota, Colombia in particular, he closed the 2004 Rock al Parque, a multitudinous all-day musical extravaganza with a crowd of 150,000 people.

Rosa ended the tour in his native Puerto Rico, where he sold out the island's recently opened new 18,000-seat arena, Coliseo de Puerto Rico Jose Miguel Agrelot. Entitled Draco al Natural, this last concert was the basis for a CD/DVD, a full-length documentary of the live performance directed by Draco's wife, Angela Alvarado Rosa, released in 2005. He capped 2005 with 7 sold out concerts at Centro de Bellas Artes in the month of September. Draco's independent spirit led him to seek release from his contract with Sony. This new freedom gave way to his second Spanish album, Vino re­leased in October 2008. Draco considers Vino a follow up to Vagabundo. Vino is included in his long awaited production "Draco: Limited Collector's Edition", along with "Teatro Live" DVD and a full color booklet. "Draco: Limited Collector's Edition" marks the return of one of music's most in­triguing and critically acclaimed artist of his generation.

Amor Vincit Omnia

Draco went back to his roots in 2009 with the release of "Amor Vincit Omnia" (Love Conquers All). A collection of songs with a heavy influence of Puerto Rican folk music. Songs like "Esto es Vida", "Amores de mi Calle" and "Espejismo" have the old-school feel of mountain music of yesteryear. The critically acclaimed album received a 2010 Grammy nomination for "Best Latin Rock Alternative Album" and received the Rock Record of the Year at Premios Lo Nuestro 2011 with two other nominations for Artist and Song of the Year. A successful tour followed culminating in Rock in Rio in Madrid, where Draco shared the main stage with Jane's Addiction and Rage Against the Machine.

Personal life

Outside of his personal investments, musical and otherwise, he has also contributed towards the improvement of artistic and cultural life in Puerto Rico, sponsoring the island's Museo de Arte and Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, and setting up an annual scholarship for outstanding students at the Puerto Rico's Music Conservatory. Draco purchased Hacienda Horizonte, a farm in the mountains of Puerto Rico. Among the many different projects going on at the farm, Draco has created his own line of rum, Ron Vagabundo, a brand of locally grown coffee, Café Horizonte, and a spectacular line of clothing, Vagabundo Clothing.

Rosa currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife Angela Alvarado and two sons, Revel and Redamo. He owns a recording studio, an independent music label and a multimedia company under the name of Phantom Vox. He also owns a private hacienda in Utuado, Puerto Rico where he has shot two music videos of his Amor Vincit Omnia album: "Paraíso Prometido", and "Reza Por Mí".

Puerto Rico's Chamber of Commerce awarded Draco with the Zenit award as Businessman of the Year.

Illness

On April 25, 2011, Rosa was diagnosed with cancer: a non-hodgkin lymphoma, near his liver. Draco's been treated at the Burzynski Clinic in Houston, The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute in Santa Monica. In Fall 2012 Draco had a stem cell transplant at City of Hope in Duarte. He is currently under quarantine in his California home until December.

Stage comeback and new album

See also: Vida (Draco Rosa album)

On January 28, 2012, Draco made a comeback to the public light after his long absence due to cancer treatment to announce a concert in which he will be sharing the stage with Juan Luis Guerra and Rubén Blades. The concert took place on March 30, 2012 at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot. Last time the three collaborated was nearly ten years before in the Banco Popular Christmas special Encuentro in 2002. To remember that collaboration, Draco's comeback was entitled "Encuentro". Angelo Medina, producer of the event, announced on February 24, 2012, that the concert was quickly sold-out and a second concert was added for March 31.

Both concerts premiered two of the multiple the collaborations planned for Draco's next album. Guerra joined Draco in "Esto Es Vida" and then Blades with "El Tiempo Va" alongside Draco. Both shows were such big hits that it is rumored two concerts will be programmed to take place in Dominican Republic and Panama, home places of Juan Luis Guerra and Rubén Blades respectively.

On October 16, 2012, Draco's manager and friend Angelo Medina announced that the release date of Draco's new album "Vida" had been pushed back from November 13, 2012 to February 2013 due to Rosa entering quarantine after a bone marrow transplant months before. "He's fine, he spent several months in the hospital, he was discharged and is at home in this process they call quarantine, but for 80 days, which fall due in December. Draco has been two years in this process and I am impressed by how brave he has faced the disease", said the producer.

As a thank you to messages of hope and recovery, Draco released the music video to an unpublished version of his own rendition of Silent Night in both English and Spanish on December 23, 2012, filmed at his California residence.

Discography

• Maggie's Dream (1990)
• Frío (1994)
• Vagabundo (1996)
• Songbirds & Roosters (1998)
• Libertad del Alma (2001)
• Mad Love (2004)
• Como Me Acuerdo (2004)
• Draco Al Natural (2005)
• El Teatro Del Absurdo (2007)
• Vino (2007)
• Teatro Live (2008)
• Ensayos 731 (2009)
• Amor Vincit Omnia (2009)
• Heronepheus: King of the Void (2011)
• La Pena Negra (2011)
• Mr. Blake - Forrest of Numbers (Rock It!) (2012)
• Vida (2012)

Producer

Year	Artist	Album
1995	Ricky Martin	"A Medio Vivir"
1998		"Vuelve"
1999		"Ricky Martin"
	Ednita Nazario	"Corazón"
2000	Ricky Martin	"Sound Loaded"
	Julio Iglesias	"Noche De Cuatro Lunas"

External links

• Phantom Vox
• Draco Rosa
• Mr. Blake
• Hacienda Horizonte
• Vagabundo Clothing
• Facebook
• Twitter
• IMDb profile

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans