Daniel Santacruz (born November 23, 1976) is an American-born Dominican musician, singer, and record producer. Born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and raised in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

to a Cuban father and a Dominican mother, Santacruz is a

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been r ...

winner.

Early years

His musical influences range from

Wilfrido Vargas Wilfrido Radamés Vargas Martínez (; born April 24, 1949 in Altamira, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic) is a band leader, trumpeter, vocalist, arranger, composer and producer who was instrumental in making the merengue style a worldwide pheno ...

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Sergio Vargas Sergio Pascual Vargas Parra (Villa Altagracia, Dominican Republic, March 15, 1960) is a performer of merengue and bolero, who was very popular in the 80s and 90s, during the "golden age of merengue" and today remains active as one of the leadin ...

and

Juan Luis Guerra Juan Luis Guerra Seijas (born June 7, 1957) is a Dominican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. He has sold 30 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists. Throughout his career, he has wo ...

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and

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

, although Santacruz has cited that his biggest musical influence was his mother, who from an early age used to sing

boleros Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

to him and also used to make imaginary interviews to a young Daniel with a small tape recorder. His father, also a music lover, introduced him to classical music and to the 1950s and 1960s sound. The first musical notes are known from his maternal grandmother Ana Zulema Victoria who was a pianist and also a piano teacher.

Career

His career began in 1996 as a member of various bands in the

including ''Massa'' and ''Rikarena'' . During that time Santacruz found to have writing skills and bought his first guitar. In this period he also participated in studio recordings as a background singer for other artists, and also for radio and TV commercials. In 2000 he was part of the MQV Church choir for two years next to

, who is the musical director of the church. In 2003 together with Ambiorix Francisco, Santacruz produced his first solo album: ''Por un beso'', earning a nomination for ''Premio Lo Nuestro'' as Best New Artist. From 2004 to 2007 Santacruz took a break from the stage and started writing and producing for other artists. At the end of 2008 his second album ''Radio Rompecorazones'' is released, produced by himself with Alejandro Jaen. The single "Adónde va el amor?" along with the album achieved two

nominations in 2009, Best Contemporary Tropical Album and Best Tropical Song. Both the single and the album received an incredible support in the United States, Latin America and Europe. History repeats itself in 2011 when his third album ''Bachata Stereo'' produced again with Jaén in collaboration with

Richy Rojas Richie or Richy is a masculine given name or short form (hypocorism) of Richard. It is also a surname. First name *Richie Ashburn (1927–1997), American Major League Baseball player, member of the Hall of Fame *Richie Benaud (1930–2015), Austr ...

, with just two months on the market receives again a nomination in the

Latin Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Tropical Album The Latin Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Tropical Album is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and promotes a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording ...

His song "Lento", a sensual Kizomba fusion which has a video with the Kizomba dancer sensation: Sara Lopez is one of Daniel's biggest hits. To the date Lento has more than 100 million views in Youtube. In 2016 his album ''"Toda La Vida"'' (a tribute for Mexican singer Emmanuel) got a nomination for The

and the song ''"La Carretera"'' co-written with

Prince Royce Geoffrey Royce Rojas (born May 11, 1989), known professionally as Prince Royce, is an American singer. At an early age, Royce took an interest in music, and in his teenage years began experimenting with music and writing poetry. By age nineteen ...

got a nomination as well for best Tropical song. His album "Momentos De Cine" (2018), also nominated for a Latin Grammy, included the tracks Desnudos, Contando Minutos and Casablanca. In 2020 Santacruz released his 7th studio album "Larimar" named after Dominican Republic's precious blue stone. "Larimar" won the Latin Grammy for Best Merengue/Bachata album category.

Songwriter

Daniel Santacruz is considered a hit maker, since 2004 Santacruz has written top charting songs for artists such as

(Incondicional, Soy El Mismo, Culpa Al Corazón, La Carretera),

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...

(Deja Vu feat Prince Royce),

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(Me Gustas Tu), Hector Acosta (Tu veneno, Aprenderé, No moriré, Ojala),

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(Lejos),

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(Me duele amarte), Monchy y Alexandra (Perdidos, No es una novela),

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Milly Quezada Milagros Quezada Borbón (born May 21, 1955) is a Dominican singer specializing in Merengue. She is a four-time Latin Grammy Award winner and has been referred to as the "Queen of Merengue" because of her impact on the world of merengue music. ...

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among others. Since 2004, Daniel has received 12

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

awards (

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

), 3 Billboards, 2 Latin American Music Awards, and 3 Premio Lo Nuestro for the songs "Perdidos" and "No Es Una Novela" (performed by the famous Dominican duet

Monchy y Alexandra Monchy & Alexandra were a bachata musical group from the Dominican Republic. They sang together as a duo beginning in 1998. Their first big hit was " Hoja en Blanco", which they released in 1999. Since then, they had many other hits, such as "H ...

), and "Soy El Mismo" performed

besides 6 Latin Grammy nominations for 3 of his own albums and some of his songs. In 2018 Santacruz received the Dominican Republic Soberano Award for Songwriter of the Year for second time in a row.

Discography

* ''Por un Beso'' 2003 * ''Radio Rompecorazones'' 2008 * ''Bachata Stereo'' 2011 * ''Lo Dice la Gente'' 2014 * ''Toda la Vida'' 2016 * ''Momentos De Cine'' 2018 * ''Larimar'' 2020 (Latin Grammy Winner)

Personal life

Daniel Santacruz is the brother of dominican singer/songwriter Manny Cruz. His daughter Penelope Santacruz is a developing artist and collaborated with Daniel in the song "Mi Estrellita De Algodón from the album "Larimar".

References

External links

* * https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/2020-latin-grammy-awards-complete-winners-nominees-list {{DEFAULTSORT:Santacruz, Daniel 1976 births Living people 21st-century Dominican Republic male singers Dominican Republic male songwriters Male songwriters Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters