Daniel Santacruz

Daniel Santacruz
Daniel Santacruz
Background information
Born	November 23, 1976 (age 47); New Jersey, US
Genres	Bachata; Merengue; Kizomba; tropical; Latin pop;
Occupation(s)	Musician, record producer
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Penluis Music
Website	danielsantacruz.com

Daniel Santacruz (born November 23, 1976) is an American-born Dominican musician, singer, and record producer. Born in

Latin Grammy Award

winner.

Early years

His musical influences range from

boleros

to him and also used to make imaginary interviews to a young Daniel with a small tape recorder. His father, also a music lover, introduced him to classical music and to the 1950s and 1960s sound. The first musical notes are known from his maternal grandmother Ana Zulema Victoria who was a pianist and also a piano teacher.

Career

His career began in 1996 as a member of various bands in the Dominican Republic including Massa and Rikarena . During that time Santacruz found to have writing skills and bought his first guitar. In this period he also participated in studio recordings as a background singer for other artists, and also for radio and TV commercials. In 2000 he was part of the MQV Church choir for two years next to Juan Luis Guerra, who is the musical director of the church.

In 2003 together with Ambiorix Francisco, Santacruz produced his first solo album: Por un beso, earning a nomination for Premio Lo Nuestro as Best New Artist.

From 2004 to 2007 Santacruz took a break from the stage and started writing and producing for other artists.

At the end of 2008 his second album Radio Rompecorazones is released, produced by himself with Alejandro Jaen. The single "Adónde va el amor?" along with the album achieved two

Latin Grammy Award

nominations in 2009, Best Contemporary Tropical Album and Best Tropical Song. Both the single and the album received an incredible support in the United States, Latin America and Europe.

History repeats itself in 2011 when his third album Bachata Stereo produced again with Jaén in collaboration with Richy Rojas, with just two months on the market receives again a nomination in the Latin Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Tropical Album

His song "Lento", a sensual Kizomba fusion which has a video with the Kizomba dancer sensation: Sara Lopez is one of Daniel's biggest hits. To the date Lento has more than 100 million views in Youtube.

In 2016 his album "Toda La Vida" (a tribute for Mexican singer Emmanuel) got a nomination for The Latin Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Tropical Album and the song "La Carretera" co-written with Prince Royce got a nomination as well for best Tropical song.

His album "Momentos De Cine" (2018), also nominated for a Latin Grammy, included the tracks Desnudos, Contando Minutos and Casablanca.

In 2020 Santacruz released his 7th studio album "Larimar" named after Dominican Republic's precious blue stone. "Larimar" won the Latin Grammy for Best Merengue/Bachata album category.