Elvis Martínez a.k.a. El Camarón (born January 5, 1976) is a Dominican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is a well known Bachata artist from the Dominican Republic. He is known for hits such as "Maestra", "La Luz De Mis Ojos", "Asi Te Amo", "Yo Te Voy Amar", "Laudano", "Directo al Corazon", "El Profesor","Aventura", among others.

Early life

Martínez was born in 1976 in

San Francisco de Macorís San Francisco de Macorís is a city in the Dominican Republic located in the northeast portion of the island, in the Cibao region. It is the capital of the Duarte Province, and the sixth most populated city in the country. The name ''San Fran ...

, Dominican Republic. Martínez grew up in a poor family with his twelve brothers. As a child he worked as a shoe shiner, then as a bakery assistant. These were just some of the jobs he had to perform to help at home. This prevented him from finishing school. He moved to New York sometime in the early 90s. There he met

Lenny Santos Lenny Santos a.k.a. Len Melody (born October 24, 1979) is an American guitarist, composer, producer and entrepreneur. He rose to global fame as the co-founder of the bachata group Aventura where he served as producer, lead guitarist, vocalist, c ...

, one of the members of the soon to be group Aventura, one of the biggest Bachata acts ever. Santos taught Martínez how to play the guitar.

Music career

In the mid 90s, Martínez signed with the label Premium Latin Music and released his solo debut album "Todo Se Paga" in 1998. The album was produced by Lenny Santos. The album proved popular as well as critically successful, winning an ACE Award in the category of Revelación del Año (awarded by La Asociación de Cronistas de Espectáculos de Nueva York—in English, the Association of Latin Entertainment Critics). This album contained hits like "Asi Fue" and "Me Seguiras Buscando". Martínez released his second studio album "Directo Al Corazon" in 1999, also produced by Lenny. This album also did commercially well, spawning hits such as "Bailando Con El", "Tu Sabes Bien", and "Directo Al Corazon". He released three additional albums on Premium Latin Music— Tres Palabras (2002), Así Te Amo (2003), and Descontrolado (2004) and enjoyed further success; for example, "Así Te Amo" won a Casandra Award in 2004 for Best Song of the Year. Martínez was nominated for a Premio Lo Nuestro award in 2004 for Best Traditional Tropical Artist. Martínez subsequently left Premium Latin Music (which consequently released the greatest-hits album La Historia de Elvis Martínez in 2005) and switched to Univision Records for Yo Soy Más Grande Que Él (2005). His best-selling album to date, Yo Soy Más Grande Que Él featured the hit singles "Tu Traición" and "Yo No Nací Para Amar". The partnership with Univision was short lived, however, as Martínez switched labels once again, moving to Universal Music Group for La Luz de Mis Ojos (2007), which spawned the hit single "Lento y Suave". He then went back to his first label Premium Latin and released "Esperanza" in 2012. Martínez was featured on Millonario on

Romeo Santos Anthony "Romeo" Santos (born July 21, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and actor who is best known as the frontman and lead vocalist of the bachata group Aventura. In 2002, the song " Obsesión" reached number one in It ...

album

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

(2019). The song was produced by

. In 2021, he collaborated with Prince Royce in the Song Veterana.

Discography

Studio albums

* Todo Se Paga (1998) * Directo Al Corazón (1999) * Tres Palabras (2002) * Así Te Amo (2003) * Descontrolado (2004) * Yo Soy Más Grande Que Él (2005) * La Luz De Mis Ojos (2007) * Esperanza (2012) * Yo Vivo Por Ti (2019) * Mi Muchachita (2022)

Live albums

* Bachata En Vivo, Vol. 1 (2022) * Bachata En Vivo, Vol. 2 (2023)

Compilation albums

* Toda Una Aventura (with Aventura) (2001) * La Historia de Elvis Martínez (2005) * Grandes Exítos (with Aventura) (2006)

External links

*
Biografía en Bachata Republic

References

21st-century Dominican Republic male singers Bachata singers Living people 1976 births Dominican Republic male songwriters Male songwriters 20th-century Dominican Republic male singers Spanish-language singers Dominican Republic musicians {{DominicanRepublic-musician-stub