Bobby Cruz
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Bobby Cruz (born February 2, 1937), is a
salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: A ...
singer and
religious minister In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidanc ...
. He was part of the duo
Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz are a Puerto Rican musical duo, consisting of Ricardo "Richie" Ray and Roberto "Bobby" Cruz. The duo was formed in 1963 and rose to fame in the mid-1960s. They are one of the most famous interpreters of 'salsa brava' m ...
. Both Cruz and Ray became religious ministers and as such founded over 70 Christian churches during the time they retired from popular music, which lasted about 16 years.


Early years

Cruz (birth name: Robert Cruz Ramos) was born in
Hormigueros, Puerto Rico Hormigueros (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the western region of the island, northeast of Cabo Rojo; northwest of San Germán; and south of Mayagüez. Hormigueros is spread over 5 barrios and Hormigueros Pueblo (th ...
and raised in the humble surroundings on his family's farm; his father was a sugar cane fields worker who later became a workers' union leader. When a child, his parents moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
where he was educated; there he enjoyed singing; he considered
El Gran Combo El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, commonly known as El Gran Combo, is a Puerto Rican salsa orchestra based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2012, it was often considered Puerto Rico's most successful musical group. The ...
's style of music as the most influential in his life.Music of Puerto Rico-Bobby Cruz
/ref>


Cruz meets Richie Ray

In New York in 1964 Bobby Cruz met fellow Puerto Rican multi-instrumentalist
Richie Ray Ricardo "Richie" Ray (born February 15, 1945) is a Nuyorican (a New York-born Puerto Rican) virtuoso pianist, singer, music arranger, composer and religious minister known for his success beginning in 1965 as part of the duo Richie Ray & Bobby ...
and soon joined his
orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
as a back-up singer. In 1968, Cruz was the lead singer on the English-language song "Mr. Trumpet Man" (an attempt at recording
boogaloo Boogaloo or bugalú (also: shing-a-ling, Latin boogaloo, Latin R&B) is a genre of Latin music and dance which was popular in the United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City mainly among teenage African Americans and Latinos ...
which became a major hit in New York and other salsa markets).Music of Puerto Rico
/ref> Between 1965 and 1975, the pairing of Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz had become one of the most popular salsa duets in the world. Ray and Cruz had a considerable influence in the Latino music world just because of four accomplishments: * Their orchestra's all-trumpet ''sonora'' sound, reminiscent of that of the
Sonora Matancera La Sonora Matancera is a Cuban band that played Latin American urban popular dance music. Founded in 1924 and led for more than five decades by guitarist, vocalist, composer, and producer Rogelio Martínez, musicologists consider it an icon of ...
, was called by that orchestra's founder Rogelio Martínez as "the best tribute the band ever had." * Inadvertently, Ray and Cruz misinterpreted a comment by a Venezuelan television announcer during a visit to the country, and popularized the term "salsa" as a result (they thought the announcer's reference to a tomato paste product was a slang reference to their music, and they incorporated it into their act). * They are partially credited with keeping the Anglo style of
Rock n Roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...
from invading Puerto Rico. (Curiously enough, at one time, the band's horn section featured an entirely non-Latino lineup) Ray in particular is credited with bringing his classical musical influences to the band's mix, and taking advantage of Cruz's almost-operatic vocal range as a result. * Cruz is credited for assisting
Rubén Blades Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna (born July 16, 1948), known professionally as Rubén Blades (, but in Panama and within the family), is a Panamanian musician, singer, composer, actor, activist, and politician, performing musically most often in th ...
into getting work at
Fania Records Fania Records is a New York–based record label founded by Dominican-born composer and bandleader Johnny Pacheco and his Brooklyn-born Italian-American ex-New York City Police Officer turned lawyer Jerry Masucci in 1964. The label took its nam ...
. Cruz's band even recorded some of Blades' earliest compositions, particularly ''"(Yo Soy) Cipriano Armenteros"'', part of a four-song saga about the fictional character recorded by Ray and Cruz, Ismael Miranda, and Blades himself.


Gold record awards

Ray and Cruz won a total of nine gold record awards during this period with hits such as: * "Aguzate" (Get Wise); * "A Mi Manera" (a remake of the French song
My Way "My Way" is a song popularized in 1969 by Frank Sinatra set to the music of the French song "Comme d'habitude" composed by Jacques Revaux with lyrics by Gilles Thibaut and Claude François and first performed in 1967 by Claude François. Its E ...
); * "Sonido Bestial" (Beastly Sound); * "Amparo Arrebato" * "El Diferente" (The Different One), and * "Mi Bandera" (My Flag, a non-controversial homage to the Puerto Rican flag that has become a patriotic and cultural reference in the country since)


Return to Puerto Rico

In 1970, Cruz and Ray opened a nightclub in
San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...
. However they found that managing the club required too much of their time as they had a lot of other commitments to attend to and so decided that it would be much better if they sold the nightclub. In addition to the duets, Cruz also sang solo when in 1972 he recorded ''Bobby Cruz canta para Tí'' (Bobby Cruz sings for You), produced by Richie Ray. He also reached No.1 in the Latin Music Hit Charts with Ya ni te Acuerdas''" (You don't even Remember). In 1974, they won first place in the Festival of Orchestras for the composition "La Zafra", whose lyrics describe the struggles of sugar cane workers in western Puerto Rico and elsewhere. Later that year Ray became a Christian convert. Initially Cruz refused to accept his friend's change, however two months' later he himself became a convert. As an experiment, they recorded what would become their most popular song, the salsa-merengue fusion "Juan en la Ciudad" (Juan in the City), in which Cruz's lyrics narrate the
Parable of the Prodigal Son The Parable of the Prodigal Son (also known as the parable of the Two Brothers, Lost Son, Loving Father, or of the Forgiving Father) is one of the parables of Jesus Christ in the Bible, appearing in Luke 15:11–32. Jesus shares the parable with ...
. It became a huge salsa hit in Latino markets in the United States and in Latin America, mostly because of its catchy, danceable refrain/chorus. Two full albums followed with religious-themed songs. "Pa' Atrás y Pa' Atrás" (Backwards and Backwards) was a minor hit at the time.


Christian salsa

The change to a religious focus was not easy and they lost many of their fans and found opposition among the members of their own faith when they suggested the idea of Christian salsa. They stood their ground and little by little they started to regain the confidence of their fans and fellow Christians, when they recorded salsa songs with a religious message. However, so as to concentrate in their religious ministries, Ray and Cruz decided to record one last "secular" salsa song together: "Adios a la Salsa" (Goodbye to Salsa) was a farewell tribute to the style of music which gave them fame and fortune. Ray and Cruz founded over 70 Christian churches during the time they retired from popular music, which lasted about 16 years. However, hardcore salsa fans constantly pressured them to return to secular work. After considerable reluctance (they feared alienating their religious followers), they gave away to fans' wishes, and played sold-out return concerts in Puerto Rico, Miami and New York, to their own surprise. Even when specifying that these joinings were to be sporadic and occasional, popular demand for their music remained constant; the Ray and Cruz orchestra played to sold-out crowds in the few tours that followed. They changed the lyrics of some of their old songs as to reflect their religious beliefs, particularly their old hits "Agúzate" (where its old
santería Santería (), also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, is an African diaspora religions, African diasporic religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between the tradit ...
references gave way to references to the
Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...
) and "Lluvia" (where an innocuous reference to a fool getting caught in the rain became a suggesting petition for the listener to convert to Christianity). In 1996, Cruz published a book titled ''Cuando era un Niño'' (''"When I was a Child"''). In 1999, Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz held a concert in the Rubén Rodríguez Coliseum in Bayamón, where they sang some of their early hits together with some of their religious songs. The result was so impressive that they were offered a contract by
Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
to record their concerts.


Later years

In 2000, Cruz and Ray held a series of concerts that were completely sold out at the Antonio Paoli Hall at the
Luis A. Ferre Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...
Fine Arts Center in
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
. They were also the main honorees at the Puerto Rican National Day of Salsa in Bayamón. In 2002, Bobby Cruz and Richie Ray were inducted into the
International Latin Music Hall of Fame The International Latin Music Hall of Fame (ILMHF) was an annual event established in 1999 and held in New York City to honor artists who have largely contributed to the Latin music (genre), Latin music genre. In addition to the induction into th ...
. Cruz and Ray currently continue their music and evangelical ministries. Ray occasionally plays Latin jazz as part of experimental musical collective La Orquesta Experimental. Occasionally, they perform "secular" salsa music (mostly in concerts), perhaps with less popularity than in their heyday, but still influencing a new generation of performers. On April 19, 2008, Bobby Cruz was the pastor who pronounced the marriage vows between
Jackie Guerrido Jackie Guerrido (born September 24, 1972), is a Puerto Rican television weather forecaster and journalist for Primer Impacto on Univision. She also is a TV host for "Despierta America en Domingo" Early years Guerrido was born and raised in San J ...
and
Don Omar William Omar Landrón Rivera (born February 10, 1978), better known by his stage name Don Omar, is a Puerto Rican reggaeton singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. On September 1, 2017, he announced that he would retire after a ...
in a ceremony held at the
Ritz Carlton The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addit ...
Hotel of San Juan. On August 16, 2008, Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz celebrated 45 years in the musical business, with a concert at
José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum The Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot (English language, English: ''José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum of Puerto Rico'') is the biggest indoor arena in Puerto Rico dedicated to entertainment. It is located at the Milla de Oro, Golden Mile ...
. Prior to the presentation, the duo noted that the concert would last at least three hours. The duo has expressed that this might be their last "big scale concert".Se tomarán un "descansito"; "Primera Hora" newspaper; author=Karol Joselyn Sepúlveda; language=Spanish; 2008-07-08


See also

*
Puerto Rican songwriters This is a list of Puerto Rican songwriters. It includes people who were born in Puerto Rico, people who are of Puerto Rican ancestry, and many long-term residents and/or immigrants who have made Puerto Rico their home, and who are recognized for th ...
* List of Puerto Ricans


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Bobby 1937 births Living people People from Hormigueros, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican singer-songwriters Puerto Rican male composers 20th-century Puerto Rican male singers Converts to Protestantism Salsa musicians Fania Records artists Latin Grammy Award winners American male singer-songwriters