Born Luis
Alfonso Rodríguez on April 15, 1978, in San Juan, Puerto Rico; he was
nicknamed "Fonsi" since the day he was born. He is the eldest of three
children (Jean Carlos, 22, and Tatiana, 20; parents, Alfonso and Delia
Rodríguez). He showed his musical inclination since he was very young.
When he was six years old, Fonsi entered the prestigious Coro de los
Niños de San Juan, where he studied for 4 years, until his family moved
to Orlando, Florida when he was only 10. At the time, he didn't speak a
word of English, but is now 100% biligual.
He entered
the Dr. Phillip's High School in Orlando, FL in 1991. Fonsi, along with
three friends, Joey Fatone (now *NSYNC band member), Joel Herman and
Erik Garbus, formed the a cappella singing group "The Big Guys". They
sang 50's doo-wop music at school parties and local festivities. In one
occation, they were invited to sing the US National Anthem during an
Orlando Magic basketball game, in front of 16,000 people.
In 1995,
Luis Fonsi got a scholarship to study in the Florida State University in
Tallahassee, majoring in "Vocal Performance", taking classes in theory,
musical appreciation, singing and composition. He also joined the
university's choir, where he made his first tours, being the most
important of them all when he went to London and sang with the
Birmingham Sinfonic Orquestra. At the same time, he started recording
demos in English.
Luis
Fonsi's destiny changed when he decided to record a demo in Spanish. In
the studio there was the head of Universal Latin's A&R who was very
impressed with the vocal capacity of Fonsi, and in the matter of days
they had signed a contract.
In 1998,
his first album, "Comenzaré", was released. With his album debut, which
was #1 in Puerto Rico, Fonsi became winner of various musical awards
including: Gold Record certified by the Recording Industries Association
of America (RIAA), Best New Artist Male Pop by the Globe Awards, Tú
Música, Farándula and Paoli in Puerto Rico, and nominated by Billboard
magazine as Best New Artist of the Year.
In June of
2000, his second album, "Eterno", was released under the production of
Rudy Perez. Alongside Perez, we find the reknown US producer Viet Renn.
Luis Fonsi debuts with this album as a songwriter with "Mi Sueño". Not
only did he write the track, but was also involved in the production and
the arrangements. In this album, Luis Fonsi includes 2 songs in English,
with which the singer hopes to iniciate his crossover in the Anglo
market. In less than a month after this album hit the stores, Luis Fonsi
received a Gold Record for 100,000 copies sold.
Luis Fonsi
has sang duets with the singers Jaci Velázquez, Christina Aguilera, the
european singer Cindy Morgan, and with Olga Tañon, his musical
god-mother.
On March
12, 2002, the long awaited third album in Spanish, "Amor Secreto" was
released world wide. With only two days of this production in the
market, Fonsi has recieved a Gold Record for the 100,000 copies sold in
US and in Puerto Rico.
His first
English debut album, "Fight the Feeling", was released July 2, 2002.
Today Luis
Fonsi counts with an infinity of plans for his future. Between all the
singers that exist today in the market, it's the unmistakable Latin soul
of Luis Fonsi that allows him to settle himself down as a vocalist of a
different character.