Danny Rivera

Danny Rivera, an outspoken Puerto Rican singer and songwriter, built a career across multiple decades that produced many hits, especially romantic boleros. Born on February 28, 1945, in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico, he first performed as a child in his local church choir. By the late 1960s and early 1970s he had become a star on the island thanks to singles such as “Porque Yo Te Amo,” “Fuiste Mía un Verano,” “Manolo,” “Mi Viejo,” “Yo y la Rosa,” “Va Cayendo una Lágrima,” and “Jesucristo.” Once those songs established his reputation, he moved into full-length releases that included Mi Hijo (1972), En Concierto (1975), Alborada (1976), the 1977 duet project Muy Amigos with Eydie Gormé, and Serenata (1979). Throughout the 1980s he sustained his audience and began appearing regularly on Latin pop charts with further albums: Así Cantaba Cheíto González (1984), Controversia (1985), Inolvidable Tito: A Mi Me Pasa Lo Mismo Que a Usted (1986), Mi Canción Es Paz (1987), Ofrenda (1987), and El Día Que Me Quieras (1988). Although his mainstream profile diminished after 1990, Rivera stayed active; among later projects, En Vivo Desde el Carnegie Hall (1999) achieved the strongest commercial results. After his arrest in 2001 during protests against U.S. military maneuvers on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, he issued the 2002 book Enamorado de la Paz, which gathers poems and diary entries composed during his thirty-day incarceration.