Fabio Alonso Salgado, better known as Estéfano (born 19 August 1966 in

Manizales Manizales () is a city in central Colombia. It is the capital of the Caldas Department, Department of Caldas, and lies near the Nevado del Ruiz volcano. Currently, the city is the main center for the production of Colombian coffee and an importa ...

, Colombia) is a Colombian musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. Along with Donato Poveda formed the duo Donato y Estefano, releasing three

studio albums An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

through 1995–1999. After the duo disbanded he went on to pursue a solo career with his album ''Código Personal: A Media Vida'' released in 2005. Estéfano has worked with

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Jon Secada Juan Francisco Secada Ramírez (born October 4, 1961), better known as Jon Secada, is a Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. He has won two Grammy Awards and sold 15 million records, making him one of the best-se ...

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and

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, among others.

Background

Estéfano left his home in Manizales, Colombia for the United States in 1989, arriving as an aspiring songwriter. He signed his first publishing deal in 1992 with Foreign Imported Productions, a Miami-based company owned by Emilio Estefan Jr. His songwriting debut came later that year on

's '' Otro Día Más Sin Verte'', namely the number one hits "Cree en Nuestro Amor" and "Sentir." A year later he penned songs for Estefan's wife, Gloria, writing the bulk of her

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

winner ''

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'', including a pair of number one singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Tracks chart: the title track and " Mi Buen Amor" Following this remarkable success right out of the gate, Estéfano teamed with Cuban singer-songwriter Donato Póveda for a pair of albums and a couple of hits for

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, released as Donato & Estéfano. But the duo broke up soon thereafter, and Estéfano returned to his hitmaking ways as a songwriter and now as a producer also. First came some work for

, who hadn't recorded an original album in years and the result was "Dejaría Todo", Chayanne's first number one single in over six years. Estéfano continued to write more chart-toppers for him in the years to come. Two other Latin pop artists who greatly benefited from Estéfano's work around this time were

with her best selling album ever, ''

Paulina Paulina or Paullina (, ) is a common female given name Latin. Paulina was a name shared by the mother, sister, and niece of the Roman Emperor, Roman emperor Hadrian. Paulina Major, mother of Hadrian (Domitia) Paulina (or Paullina) Major (''Ma ...

'', and

with her number-one album on the ''Billboard'' Top Latin Albums chart, ''

''. In 2005, by which time he had been awarded BMI's Latin Songwriter of the Year honor (7) seven times and scored 39 Top 40, 22 Top Ten, and seven number one hits, Estéfano made his solo debut with ''Código Personal: A Media Vida'', a collection of especially personal songs that he'd written for himself to sing. However, this album was not as successful as his previous work for other artists. For his work on '' Amar Sin Mentiras'' by

, the producer won a

Discography

With Donato & Estéfano

*''Mar Adentro'' (1995) *''Entre la Línea del Bien y la Línea del Mal'' (1997) *''De Hombre a Mujer'' (1999) *''Lo Mejor de Donato & Estéfano'' (2000)

As a solo artist

*''Código Personal: A Media Vida'' (2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Estefano 1966 births Living people People from Manizales Grammy Award winners Colombian record producers Colombian singer-songwriters Colombian male singer-songwriters 21st-century Colombian male singers Latin music record producers Latin music songwriters 20th-century Colombian male singers