Gilberto Santa Rosa

• Genre: Salsa
• Hometown: San Juan
• Gilberto Santa Rosa Website

About

Gilberto Santa Rosa became a salsero the old-fashioned way: he worked for it. Unlike younger crops of singers who are pretty faces first and singers second, Santa Rosa came on the scene in the 1970s. He climbed up through the ranks, putting in time with unknown orchestras and, when he was lucky, with bigger names like the Puerto Rico All-Stars, Tommy Olivencia and Willie Rosario. He released his first album with his own orchestra in 1986 but it wasn't until 1990 that Santa Rosa made a huge dent in the charts with Punto de Vista. The barnstorming hits "Vivir Sin Ella" and "Perdoname" established him, and his 1991 follow-up Perspectiva confirmed he wasn't a one-hit wonder.

- Sarah Bardeen