Raúl Grisanty

Raul Grisanty, a bachata singer, spent nearly thirty years laying down recordings across his homeland, the Dominican Republic, before any of his material reached listeners in the United States. Born in the Dominican town of Monte Cristy, he first drew notice in 1970 through an unexpected standout appearance at the Third Dominican Festival of Music while still virtually unknown. Over the ensuing decades he sustained a lengthy, productive career, and in 2000 the album Bachata Es Amor—which paired new material with earlier hits—finally appeared in the U.S.