Víctor "Papo" Román (born December 12, 1957 in
Dorado
Dorado () is a constellation in the southern sky. It was named in the late 16th century and is now one of the 88 modern constellations. Its name refers to the dolphinfish (''Coryphaena hippurus''), which is known as ''dorado'' in Spanish, alt ...
,
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 ...
) is a
Puerto Rican musician most known for being the
percussionist
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...
of the
Rock en Español
Rock en español () is a term used widely in the English-speaking world to refer to any kind of rock music featuring Spanish vocals. Compared to English-speaking bands, very few acts reached worldwide success or between Spanish-speaking countrie ...
band
Fiel a la Vega
Fiel a La Vega is a Rock en Español band from Puerto Rico formed in 1994. The band consisted of members Tito Auger and Ricky Laureano (vocals and guitars), who come from the northern city of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, along with brothers Pedro ...
.
Biography and Career
Papo Román is the son of Víctor Román and Juanita Rodríguez. Since he was 12 years old, he started developing an interest in music. His first teacher was his friend Miguel Nieto. After years of practicing and with the influences of
Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz, Román started playing with several groups like Orquesta La Preferida, La Sónica,
Maso Rivera
Maso may refer to:
* Maso (goddess)
* ''Maso'' (spider), a genus of spiders in the family Linyphiidae
* La Masó, municipality in Spain
* Bartolomé Masó, Cuba, a municipality
* An informal term to describe Macedonia
People with the given nam ...
,
Tavín Pumarejo, and Orquesta La Innovacián, among others.
In 1996, when
Fiel a la Vega
Fiel a La Vega is a Rock en Español band from Puerto Rico formed in 1994. The band consisted of members Tito Auger and Ricky Laureano (vocals and guitars), who come from the northern city of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, along with brothers Pedro ...
was completing the recording of their
first album,
guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...
Ricky Laureano (who was Román's
brother-in-law
A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling, or the sibling of one's spouse, or the person who is married to the sibling of one's spouse.Cambridge Dictionaries Online.Family: non-blood relations.
More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referr ...
at the time) invited Román to play
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
in the song "
El Wanabí
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American ...
". After that, they invited Román to play the songs "El Wanabí" and "Las Flores de Emilio" in their first concert. The latter was the first song of the set and after five songs, the band noticed that Román was still playing with them. The band liked it so much that they decided to include Román in the band.
The band's first album quickly achieved great success in the island releasing several radio hits and winning several awards. As of 2007, the band released four studio albums with Román.
On October 11, 2006, Román communicated with a letter to the fans and the press that he will be quitting the band after ten years. He stated that, despite not regretting the time spent with the band, he needed to slow down and dedicate time to his family. Román is the father of six children, two of them teenage daughters.
See also
*
Music in Puerto Rico
The music of Puerto Rico has evolved as a heterogeneous and dynamic product of diverse cultural resources. The most conspicuous musical sources of Puerto Rico have included European, Indigenous, and African influences, although many aspects of P ...
*
Puerto Rican rock
External links
Fiel a la Vega Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman, Papo
1957 births
Living people
People from Dorado, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican percussionists
Fiel a la Vega members