Rudy Amado Pérez (born May 14, 1958) is a Cuban-born American musician, songwriter, composer, producer, arranger, sound engineer, musical director and singer, as well as entertainment entrepreneur, and philanthropist. His area of specialty is ballads, although he has also worked in a variety of other genres.
Pérez has produced more than 70 albums,People en Español (People in Spanish). September 1989. Page 63. composed over 1,000 songs (over 300 of which have been number one or have reached the top 10 charts), and written and produced music for popular international artists such as Westlife, Natalie Cole, José Feliciano, Julio Iglesias, Luis Miguel, Raúl di Blasio, Jaci Velasquez, Cristian Castro, Christina Aguilera, Michael Bolton, Luis Fonsi, Marc Anthony, Toño Rosario, Jennifer Lopez, Il Divo, and Beyoncé.
He has won many music awards throughout his career, including being voted the most important Latin composer four times (four years), and winning the title of Producer of the Decade in 2010, awarded by Billboard to the producer with the most top 10 hits of the decade. He is the first Latin producer to win Billboards Producer of the Year award four years consecutively.
Pérez owns the record labels Rudy Pérez Enterprises (RPE) and Bullseye Productions. He is a founding partner and the Chief Creative Officer of DiGa Entertainment and the co-founder of the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (LARAS), the Latin Grammys. He was instrumental in the production of the premiere of the inaugural Latin Grammy Awards of 2000 and is on the board of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). In April 2013, Pérez (along with Desmond Child) created the Pabellón de la Fama de los Compositores Latinos (Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame; LSHOF), in Miami Beach, to honor the most important Latino composers and to drive them to continue creating Latin music.
Early years
Rudy Amado Pérez was born on May 14, 1958,TV y Novelas. Reportage: El Elegido por los Grandes (Magazine in Spanish: The chosen by the Great). Pages: 62 - 64. Number 14. June 9, 2001. in Pinar del Río, Cuba,Mix en español (magazine in Spanish: Mix in Spanish). July, August 2000 to Baptist parents.Universo increible: La canción del productor Rudy Pérez que Whitney Houston no llegó a cantar (Video Interview) (in Spanish: Incredible Universe: The song's producer Rudy Perez that Whitney Houston did not could sing (Video Interview)) His grandfather was a Baptist minister. Pérez's father, Rudy Amado, was a painter, religious minister and writer,Hora 20, Rudy Pérez: Un hombre para la música (in Spanish: Hour 20, Rudy Pérez: A man for music). Posted by Diana Calderón on February 21, 2001. Consulted on July 27, 2012, to 20: 43 pm. who served as lieutenant in the army of Cuban former president Fulgencio Batista, and was imprisoned following the Cuban Revolution of 1959, due to his involvement in prior conflict with Castro's communist forces. The remainder of his family consisted of his mother, Elsa Pérez, a seamstress, who made fine clothes and baskets, and three siblings (two sisters and a brother).Mix: Professional audio and music production: Rudy Pérez , February 1, 2001, Dan Dale.
When Pérez was nine years old, his family emigrated to the United States, leaving their home country to flee the political regime of Castro. The Pérez family moved to Miami, initially living in a refugee camp, but soon settled in Liberty City, Florida.Rudy Pérez, el compositor de la década y de las estrellas (in Spanish: Rudy Pérez, the composer of the decade and the stars). Posted by Cynthia De Saint in tuesday, January 26, 2010. Accessdate in May 2010.
Pérez discovered his interest in music as a child, influenced by bolero and rock music.Artist and Music: Rudy Pérez tops Hot Latin Tracks producers list for 2000. Billboard, December 30, 2000 He began singing at age two. It is reported that he was able to sing in perfect tune and he used any object like a musical instrument. After hearing the music of Frédéric Chopin's pianist, Pérez was inspired to become a musician and learn to play the piano. He began singing and playing in the choir at the neighborhood Baptist church in the same year that his family arrived in the US, under the tutelage of the ministers, who taught him to sing and to play the guitar and piano. Pérez was also influenced by the African-American community, being subsequently introduced to R&B and gospel music.
At age twelve, Pérez worked for a company that manufactured barbed wire to buy an electric guitar (since his parents, according to Pérez, could not afford to pay for it). After a year of work he was able to buy the guitar, his first musical instrument, although he could not play it for three months due to the hand injuries he received working at the factory. He then began private guitar lessons. Throughout his teenage years he worked at hardware stores, gas stations and as valet to buy instruments and amplifiers.
Pearly Queen Pérez quit school to join several rock bands in his neighborhood, until at age 15 he was invited to join the group Pearly Queen, a top 40 cover band that was popular in Miami in 1973. The group sang in English and was required to play the "hit" songs of the time.
They won a contract to play for the Big Daddy Flanigan clubs in both the US and Canada (90 venues), playing five sets per night for five or six nights per week. The interpretations of the band in these clubs provided to Perez an introduction to music production, as he was responsible for the arrangements of the versions that the band played. He decided to study the arrangement and the recording of music. The band pitched two albums: Treasure Hunt (1974) and Disco? (1976) and had four singles and EPs: "Miénteme" (Move On), "Quit Jive' In" (Jungle Walk), "Adoro" (More) and "Understanding" (Young In Love; Yo Lo Comprendo).Pearly Queen Discography at Discogs. Consulted on February 1, 2015 He stayed in the group for five years and, at age twenty, left the group to produce and write songs for local Latino singers in Miami.
Composing career
Miami Sound Studios and songwriter career starts Later, Pérez began working as a gofer at Miami Sound Studios, in the studio of Carlos Diaz-Granados (doing things such as cleaning the studio or fetching food for the people who worked there), He lived in the studio for two years, according to Perez, because he "was just going through a divorce". He lived, cleaned and slept there. He "watched and learned all the details" about the musical work, and learned engineering.
In 1983, he began working at Pablo Cano's studios Clímax, in North Miami on 30th Street, where he worked as an unpaid intern,Hola Miami.com: RUDY PEREZ and was allowed to live at the studio for a year and a half. He continued looking at the details of the recordings of albums and songs by other artists.Diario El Popular: Rudy Pérez (in Spanish: Diary The Popular). Posted by Rosana Azuero on November 8, 2012, at 11:32 pm. He was determined to record his own songs and not just do demos for his friends.
According to Pérez, he was discovered by Pablo Cano's niece, when she heard him perform a song he had composed. She showed Cano a ballad that Pérez had written, and Cano decided to hire him permanently, "paying him a good salary", to make an album with him. Thus, Pérez got his first opportunity as a composer: Cano offered him to record with a band and to submit him to a company of musical albums. The band composed four songs, and Pérez gave his songs to top arrangers who asked for his material. After a while, however, he wasn't comfortable with the changes being made to the songs and he decided to make this song the way he "felt them". During this time, he began working with other artists who he met at the studio, such as Roberto Carlos and Gloria Estefan, and continued studying music.
Finally, in 1983, Pérez released the album ¿Qué voy a hacer sin tí? (What am I going to do without you?), with a promotional song by the same title. Jose Menendez, who was working at RCA Records at the time, heard the album and decided to hire him.
This is when Pérez became a producer. A few weeks later, while he was on a promotional tour of his manager, Pablo Cano, in Puerto Rico, he met José Feliciano, for whom Menendez had played their version of "¿Qué voy a hacer sin tí?". Feliciano asked him to produce his next album. Pérez produced most of Feliciano's Ya soy tuyo album (I'm already yours) and it reached number one with the song "Me has echado al olvido" (you have thrown me into oblivion).Radio y Música: Música que suena se paga. Rudy Pérez: su exitosa carrera a travéz de los años (article in Spanish: Radio and Music: Music that sounds is paid. Rudy Pérez, his successful career Through the years). By Rosa Tanes. This album also won two Grammy Award nominations for production and the song "Ella" (She) in 1985. The album marked Feliciano's return to the elite of Latin music. Pérez became a professor of production and musical composition of their albums for two decades.
Composing and producing career since 1986
The Pérez album ¿Qué voy a hacer sin tí? was awarded with a Gold record. In 1986, Pérez earned a Grammy Award as Producer in the "Best Latin Pop Performance" category with the José Feliciano's song "Ya Soy Tuyo" ("I am already for you"), and in 1988 Billboard named him "Producer of the Year"IDA Education Program. Rudy Perez for the first time. The success of his work with Feliciano opened the door for him to work with other singers.The Washington Post. It Always Translates Into Love Posted by J. Freedom du Lac in Monday, August 27, 2007. Consulted May 29, 2011, to 20:34. In 1992, WEA hired him to collaborate on the production of the record Aries by Luis Miguel, which meant he had to sign an exclusivity contract preventing him from producing for others until 1997. In 1993, he won another Grammy Award as Producer and Songwriter for the "Best Latin Pop Album" Aries, by Luis Miguel, and the following year, Rudy Pérez pitched his followup album, after ¿Qué voy a hacer sin tí?"Rudy"Coveralia: Rudy Perez. Rudy (also known as "Sencillos y otros"; in English: Singles and others), whose most played song was "Mi manera de querer" (My way of loving). However, the album was not very successful and Perez decided to focus only on his career as a composer.
In 1997, after his contract with WEA came to an end, Pérez wrote and produced the album Lo Mejor De Mi for Mexican singer Cristian Castro, an album with the hit song of the same name (which stayed for more than 90 weeks on the charts), "Después de Ti...¿Qué?" (dedicated to his mother, who later died of cancer), and "Si Tú Me Amaras". This album reached #1 on Hot Latin Tracks of 1997 and received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Latin Pop Album of 1998. The title track was included in the 1999 compilation Billboard Latin Music Awards Superstar Hits. The chart-topping album, along with Millie's "De hoy En Adelante" and "Una Voz en el Alma", also composed by Rudy Pérez, won him ASCAP Awards in 2000.
In 1997 Ricky Martin also reached #1 on Hot Latin Tracks of 1997 and was included in the 1999 compilation recording Billboard Latin Music Awards Superstar Hits. In 1999 he also received the Ace Awards for Senor Bolero for "Album of the Year" recorded by José Feliciano and a concession of the dove through the production of the album by Christian artist Jaci Velasquez Llegar A Ti. This album featured the ballad "Solo Tú" which made the top 10 on Billboards Latin chart. That year, he received the ASCAP Award for "Songwriter of the Year".