Wilkins (born March 10, 1953) is a Puerto Rican pop music singer and composer.

Early years

Wilkins (birth name: Germán Wilkins Vélez Ramírez was born in the city of

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Mayagüez (, ) is the ninth-largest Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez (Township of Virgin of Candelaria, Our Lady of Candelaria), and is also ...

, but raised in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, Mexico. His father, Germán Vélez Forestier, was a radio announcer and part-time singer (he was

Mon Rivera Mon Rivera is the common name given to two distinct Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican musicians (both born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, Mayagüez), namely Monserrate Rivera Alers (originally nicknamed Rate, later referred to as "Don Mon", or Mon T ...

's singing partner at the beginning of Mon's career in El Duo Huasteca). As a child, Wilkins enjoyed putting on a "show" for his loved ones, which included his sister Bruni Vélez, who would later become a newscaster and TV journalist in Puerto Rico. Wilkins joined the high school choir where he sang solo. During his free time, he sang as back-up for local groups.

Back in Puerto Rico

The family returned to Puerto Rico in 1971, and while seeking a degree in

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

at the University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez, Wilkins decided to pursue a formal singing career. In 1973, Wilkins made his recording debut with an album titled ''Wilkins'' (produced by

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – May 31, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, timbalero, and record producer. He composed dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz music. He was also k ...

), which was followed in 1974 and in 1975 with the recordings of the albums ''Por Tu Rumbo'' (By Your Path) and a second ''Wilkins'', respectively. The albums' successes were followed by several successful concerts, both in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

and Latin America. Wilkins' music has also been popular in Germany and Japan. Wilkins became the first pop music performer to sing in the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

, which was only reserved for classical music performers. In 1980, Wilkins released ''Respiraré'' (I Will Breathe) which was named best recording of the year by

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

. He was twice named by

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

and ASCAP as the singer and composer of the year. In 1988, Wilkins participated in the film ''

Salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), 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: Arts and ent ...

'', as a homeless person, starring Robby Rosa alongside the likes of

Celia Cruz Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of , earning the nickna ...

and

. In the movie, he sang the song "Margarita", which he composed and which is also included in his ''Paraiso Perdido'' album. "Margarita" became one of his greatest "hits" and he won Gold Record Awards in Puerto Rico, Latin America, the United States,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, Sweden, Germany,

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, South Africa and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Lambada

In the 1980s, a dance craze called the "

Lambada Lambada () is a dance from the state of Pará in Brazil. The dance briefly became internationally popular in the 1980s, especially in the Philippines, Latin America and Caribbean, Caribbean countries. It has adopted aspects of dances such as Maxi ...

" (The Forbidden Dance) spread across the world. Wilkins sang the Latin version of the song, which became a huge success. In 1984, Wilkins included the "Lambada (Llorando Se Fue)" in his album of 15 tracks titled ''Una Historia Importante'' (An Important Story). In 1991, Wilkins' song "Sopa de Caracol" (Conch Soup), co-produced by

Emilio Estefan Emilio Estefan Gómez (born March 4, 1953) is a Cuban-American musician and producer. Estefan has won 19 Grammy Awards. He first came to prominence as a member of the Miami Sound Machine. He is the husband of singer Gloria Estefan, father of s ...

, reached the German " Hit Parade List" and over 25,000 people attended a concert that he gave in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, after the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

Tragedy

Wilkins suffered a personal tragedy when his young son Gabriel died of a

brain tumor A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...

at the age of 19. Wilkins stayed away from the music world for three years. In 1995, he recorded ''El Amor Es Mas Fuerte'' (The Love is Stronger) which won a "Tu Musica Award" as best album of the year. He was also awarded the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

's Casandra Award that same year. He then made his official comeback with a sold-out concert at San Juan's Hiram Bithorn Stadium, formerly the biggest concert and sports venue in Puerto Rico. That same year he also won another Gold Record Award for the recording of ''Wilkins-Leyenda'', which consists of a set of four CDs with 70 songs. In the 1990s, he released several other successful albums such as ''Pole-Pole'' and held a concert in El Morro fortress in San Juan. In 2005, Wilkins released his 43rd album, ''Tu Fan'', recorded in Italy. Wilkins has won over 23

Gold Record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and 10

Platinum Record Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music Sound recording and reproduction, recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video ...

Awards over the years. In November 2006, Wilkins released a Greatest Hits collection, featuring a DVD with 17 music videos and five new songs, called ''Disco de Oro: Cuatro Décadas de Éxitos y Cinco Nuevas Canciones''. In December 2007, Wilkins held a press conference in

to announce his retirement from music after 40 years of career. He said the decision stems from his desire to take care of his nephew (son of Wilkins' sister, Bruni Vélez, who died in 2006) and his mother.

Personal life

Wilkins has been married four times. He had a son, Gabriel, with his first wife, who died in 1994 of a

. His sister, Bruni Velez, died in 2006 from

Lou Gehrig's disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and lo ...

at the age of 55. Wilkins recorded a song dedicated to her, called "Te Extraño" ("I Miss You") that is included in his latest album "Disco de Oro".Univision
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References

External links

WilkinsMusic.com
– Official Website
Wilkins @ Facebook
– Page on Facebook {{Authority control 1953 births Living people Musicians from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican male singer-songwriters 20th-century Puerto Rican male singers 20th-century Puerto Rican singers Puerto Rican male composers Latin music songwriters