Victor Manuelle

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Victor Manuelle (born Victor Manuel Ruiz on September 27, 1970 in New York, New York^[1], but raised primarily in Isabela, Puerto Rico) is a successful salsa singer, songwriter, and improvisational sonero, known to his fans as El Sonero de la Juventud ("The Youth's Sonero"). He is identified primarily with salsa romantica or "salsa monga", but has also experimented with styles ranging from Colombian vallenato to urban reggaeton. That said, unlike other young salsa performers such as Marc Anthony, he has neither recorded in English, nor made a Latin pop album, nor ventured into acting (save for a TV show in Puerto Rico), preferring to remain a musician grounded within the salsa music genre he loves.

Victor Manuelle

1 Discovery and Early Career
2 The 2000s
3 Songwriting
4 Recent Activity
5 Personal Details
6 Studio Albums, with Hits and Notable Songs
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Discovery and Early Career

His singing career began by chance, during a concert at his high school's graduation party by salsa superstar Gilberto Santa Rosa. At the instigation of classmates, who were going on about their friend the sonero, Santa Rosa invited Victor to jump up on stage and sing a song with him. To Santa Rosa's surprise, not only could Victor sing, but he "free-styled" the improvisational soneo lyrics in the song, and traded soneos with Santa Rosa. Shortly thereafter, on Santa Rosa's recommendation, Puerto Rican bandleader Don Periñon hired teenage Victor as a backup singer. During these years of apprenticeship he performed with numerous salsa greats.

Thanks again to Santa Rosa, Manuelle was eventually signed as a solo artist to Sony Tropical. His debut album, Justo A Tiempo ("Just in Time"), which Santa Rosa produced, was released in 1993. (A list of his studio albums and notable songs appears at the end of this article.)

[edit] The 2000s

Victor Manuelle has become one of the best-selling salsa performers of recent years, with his albums selling a combined 1 million-plus copies in the U.S. Three studio albums, 1999's Inconfundible ("Unmistakable"), 2001's Instinto Y Deseo ("Instinct and Desire") and 2004's Travesía ("Crossover"), have cracked Billboard's overall Top 200 Albums chart, and the latter two reached #1 on the Latin Album chart (Inconfundible reached #2). Interestingly, while several of his singles have made the Top 5 or Top 10 on the Latin charts, he had to wait for 2004's Tengo Ganas ("I'm in the Mood") to score a Billboard #1 Latin hit.

Perhaps his moment of greatest visibility came when he, to the happy surprise of the attendees, sang an a capella version of Celia Cruz's signature song, La Vida Es Un Carnaval ("Life is a Carnival"), at her funeral at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York in July 2003. This scene was replayed numerous times in the ensuing days on Spanish-language television. A few months before, he had performed the song for Miss Cruz, with full orchestra, at a televised tribute concert for her, the last one at which she ever performed on stage. (When he recorded his live album at Carnegie Hall in late 2004, his closing number was another rousing rendition of La Vida Es Un Carnaval.)

[edit] Songwriting

Manuelle also is an increasingly accomplished and prolific songwriter, and now records mostly material he has written or co-written himself. His favorite composition, however, he wrote for Gilberto Santa Rosa: 2003's huge salsa hit Si Te Dijeron ("If They Told You").

Jennifer Lopez recently recorded a Victor Manuelle composition, Si Te Fueras De Mi ("If You Should Leave Me"), to be featured on her forthcoming Spanish-language album, Como Ama Una Mujer.

[edit] Recent Activity

Manuelle released his 10th studio album, Decisión Unánime ("Unanimous Decision"), in May 2006. Six months earlier, in November 2005, he and his mentor, Gilberto Santa Rosa, released a joint live album, Dos Soneros, Una Historia ("Two Soneros, One History"), recorded at Roberto Clemente Stadium outside San Juan, Puerto Rico. Manuelle's own live album, Victor Manuelle En Vivo: Desde El Carnegie Hall, came out in early 2005.

He served as co-host of the 7th annual Latin Grammy awards show, held November 2, 2006, in New York. He has just recently won a "Premio Lo Nuestro" award as the predominant figure in the genre of salsa.

[edit] Personal Details

Victor Manuelle is a divorced father of three (two girls and a boy), who says he prefers to spend his free time with his children and family, and playing pick-up basketball. He was romantically linked to actress Roselyn Sanchez for several years, until they ended their relationship in December 2005. He is reportedly known to his family by the nickname Binki.

[edit] Studio Albums, with Hits and Notable Songs

Justo A Tiempo, 1993 -- Estás Tocando Fuego; Me Dará El Consentimiento
Solo Contigo, 1994 -- Apiádate De Mi
Victor Manuelle, 1996 -- Pensamiento Y Palabra; Hay Que Poner El Alma
A Pesar De Todo, 1997 -- He Tratado; Así Es La Mujer; Dile A Ella; El Aguila
Ironias, 1998 -- Se Me Rompe El Alma; Que Habría Sido De Mi; La Dueña De Mis Amores
Inconfundible, 1999 -- Pero Dile; Como Duele; Si La Ves; Por Ella
Instinto Y Deseo, 2001 -- Me Da Lo Mismo; Como Se Lo Explico Al Corazón
Le Preguntaba A La Luna, 2002 -- En Nombre De Los Dos; Poco Hombre; El Tonto Que No Te Olvidó
Travesía, 2004 -- Tengo Ganas; Te Propongo; Lloré, Lloré; No Me Hace Falta
Decisión Unánime, 2006 -- Nuestro Amor Se Ha Vuelto Ayer; Maldita Suerte (ft. Sin Bandera)

[edit] References

Victor Manuelle states his birth date and place in an interview in: Kent, Mary. 2005. Salsa Talks: A Musical Heritage Uncovered. Altamonte Springs, Fla.: Digital Domain, p. 310.