Elvis Crespo Díaz (born July 30, 1971) is an Puerto Rican singer and songwriter of the Merengue genre. He has won multiple awards, including a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

and 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 ...

in merengue.

Early years

Crespo was born in

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 ...

and was named "Elvis" after

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

. He was raised in the city of

Guaynabo Guaynabo (, ) is a city, suburb of San Juan and municipality in the northern part of Puerto Rico, located in the northern coast of the island, north of Aguas Buenas, south of Cataño, east of Bayamón, and west of San Juan. Guaynabo is sprea ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

, where he spent his childhood and adolescent years.

Musical career

He first gained fame in the mid-90s when he joined Grupo Mania, in Puerto Rico. Eventually he decided to try to go solo in 1998. His debut album, Suavemente was a hit, both in Latin America and in the US. The single "

Suavemente ''Suavemente'' ( en, Smoothly) is the debut studio album by American merenguero recording artist Elvis Crespo. Released by Sony Music Latin on April 14, 1998, the album popularized merengue music and established Crespo as a leading artist in ...

" was a huge hit and eventually helped him earn the Best Male Tropical/Salsa Album of the Year from Billboard magazine. His album went platinum in the Venezuelan and Central American markets and gold in Chile. Released in 1998, Crespo's debut also earned a gold album for sales of over 500,000 copies in the first year after its release in the United States. "Suavemente" set a record for holding the top position on Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks chart for six weeks. Part of the song's success was its unexpected crossover appeal to English-speaking listeners, particularly in Miami and New York." His album was mostly merengue influenced, but his follow-up albums would venture from these roots eventually. ''Wow Flash!'' is Elvis Crespo's third solo recording for

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...

. Elvis Crespo's latest album, ''Regresó el Jefe'', went on sale on 5 June 2007, with its first single being "La Foto Se Me Borró." He dedicated this album to his niece, Wilmarie Agosto Crespo, who died in a car accident on March 28, 2007. In 2016 Elvis was featured on Deorro's number one hit song "Bailar" which was featured on a

Target Corporation Target Corporation ( doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a com ...

Commercial.

Personal life

On March 16, 2009, Crespo married his manager, Maribel Vega, in Puerto Rico. Crespo was investigated by the Miami-Dade Police Department and the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI) after he allegedly performed a sex act and exposed himself in view of other passengers aboard an airplane flight from

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, Texas to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, Florida on March 26, 2009. He was interviewed upon his arrival but was not arrested and no charges were filed. When asked by police at the airport about the accusation, Crespo reportedly said "I don’t recall doing that". On July 10, 2013, an intoxicated Crespo was allegedly expelled from a casino in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico for harassing a female employee, before he later became involved in a physical confrontation with local restaurant owner Alexander de Jesús after he attempted to steal a bottle of alcohol from his restaurant. De Jesús subsequently filed a complaint against Crespo, opening a police investigation. In a December 2013 interview with '' Al Rojo Vivo'', Crespo addressed both incidents, saying that he was ashamed, and that his behavior stemmed from his struggles with alcohol and drug addiction.

Discography

Studio albums * 1998: '' Suavemente'' * 1999: '' Píntame'' * 1999: '' The Remixes'' * 2000: '' Wow! Flash'' * 2002: '' Urbano'' * 2004: '' Saboréalo'' * 2007: '' Regresó el Jefe'' * 2010: '' Indestructible'' * 2012: '' Los Monsters'' * 2013: ''One Flag'' * 2015: ''Tatuaje'' * 2018: '' Diomedizao'' * 2021: ''Regresó el Jefe 2.0'' * 2021: ''Multitudes''

Awards

This is a list of awards and nominations of Puerto Rican merengue artist Elvis Crespo. Here are some of the awards he has won during his musical career.

Premio Lo Nuestro

1999 *Tropical: Album of the Year (Suavemente) *Tropical: Male Artist of the Year *Tropical: Best New Artist *Tropical: Song of the Year (Suavemente) 2000 *Tropical: Album of the Year (Pintame) *Tropical: Male Artist of the Year *Tropical: Song of the Year (Pintame) 2001 *Merengue: Artist of the Year *People Choice Awards: Tropical Artist of the Year 2003 *Merengue: Artist of the Year 2005 *Merengue: Artist of the Year 2012 *Merengue: Artist of the Year

Grammy Awards

1999 *Best Merengue Performance (Pintame)

Latin Grammys

2005 *Best Merengue Album (Saborealo)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crespo, Elvis 1971 births Merengue musicians People from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico 20th-century Puerto Rican male singers Grammy Award winners Latin Grammy Award winners Living people American people of Puerto Rican descent Machete Music artists Sony Discos artists Latin music songwriters 21st-century Puerto Rican male singers