Elsten Creole Torres, (born February 10, 1965) in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

as Listoriel Leyva Torres, is a singer songwriter and

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

. He has been nominated for two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

s for his first

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

independent album, ''Individual''.http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/news/49th-annual-grammy-awards-roundup-latinworld-fields The 49th Annual GRAMMY Awards Roundup: Latin/World Fields Elsten Torres 2013

Life and career

Early life

Elsten Torres (originally Listoriel Leyva Torres) was born in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

during the height of the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...

Mistaken Identity and Rebelde Sin Causa

His first real serious band was called, “Mistaken Identity” then followed by his first

Latin rock Latin rock is a term to describe a subgenre blending traditional sounds and elements of Latin American and Hispanic Caribbean folk with rock music. However, it is widely used in the English-language media to refer any kind of rock music featurin ...

band, “Rebelde Sin Causa”. Elsten recorded his first professional album, ''Ataque'' with his music partner, Leonardo "Jason X" Perez, on Mexican rock label, Discos Gas.

Fulano De Tal

In Miami, Elsten first records with the

independent label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

, “Radio Vox” under the artistic name of Fulano de Tal. The first single was the Cuban protest anthem, ''Revolucion''. With the success of ''Revolucion'', Elsten put the band together that would become “Fulano De Tal.” The original members were;

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

– Brendan Buckley,

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

- Julian Adam Zimmon, and

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

– Leo Nobre. Nobre left the band right before the band was to record their major label debut, ''Normal'' through

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

, and was replaced by bassist – John M. Falcone. Fulano de Tal released two full-length albums, ''Normal'' (BMG/

), and ''Etc.'' (Radio Vox/DLN.) The band officially broke up in 2001. After the breakup of the band, Elsten has continued both his own career as a

artist and has had success writing for other artists such as:

Ricky Martin Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography spanning ...

Luis Fonsi Luis Alfonso Rodríguez López-Cepero (born April 15, 1978), known by his stage name Luis Fonsi (), is a Puerto Rican singer. He is known for multiple songs, one of them being "Despacito" featuring rapper Daddy Yankee. Fonsi received his first ...

Obie Bermúdez Obie Bermúdez (born January 10, 1981) is a Puerto Rican Latin pop, salsa singer and composer. Early years Bermúdez was born in Aibonito, Puerto Rico into a family who loved music. His father and grandfather were both musicians. He received ...

Alejandra Guzmán Gabriela Alejandra Guzmán Pinal (born February 9, 1968), known professionally as Alejandra Guzmán, and nicknamed "La Reina de Corazones" (The Queen of Hearts) is a Mexican musician, singer, composer, and actress. With more than 30 million album ...

Julio Iglesias Jr. Julio José Iglesias Preysler (born 25 February 1973) is a Spanish singer. In 2008, he was declared the winner of the CMT competition '' Gone Country''. Early life He was born Julio José Iglesias-Preysler (before a later name change) in Madri ...

Aleks Syntek Raúl Alejandro Escajadillo Peña (born 29 September 1969), known by his stage name, Aleks Syntek, is a Mexican singer and songwriter. He has earned nine nominations for the Latin Grammy Awards, a Grammy nomination, five nominations for the MT ...

Oscar de Leon Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

Marshall Crenshaw Marshall Howard Crenshaw (born November 11, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for hit songs such as " Someday, Someway," a US top 40 hit in 1982, " Cynical Girl," and "Whenever You're on My Mind." He i ...

John Rich John Rich (born January 7, 1974) is an American country music singer-songwriter. From 1992 to 1998, he was a member of the country music band Lonestar, in which he played bass guitar and alternated with Richie McDonald as lead vocalist. After d ...

(Big & Rich).

Solo career

In 2006, Elsten released his first

album, the

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-nominated independent album, “Individual.”

Discography

The Elsten Torres discography is as follows: * “Ataque” (Rebelde Sin Causa) – Discos Gas/Mexico - 1992 * “Revolucion” (Fulano De Tal) – Maxi – single – Radio Vox Records -1995 * “Normal” – (Fulano De Tal) – BMG/RCA - 1997 * “Etc.” – (Fulano) – Radio Vox/DLN - 2000 * “Individual” – (Fulano/Elsten Torres) – FM Records -2006 * “If You Say So” – (Elsten Torres) – Uno Entertainment – 2008 * "Waiting for Clouds"= (Elsten Torres)- Real Artificial Music-2013

Compilations

* Latin Laugh Festival –

– 1998 * Tributo to the Cure –

WEA Latina Warner Music Latina (formerly WEA Latina) is a record label part of Warner Music Group that focuses on Latin music. The record label was established in 1987. List of artists currently on Warner Music Latina Alaya* Alex Ubago *Andres Calamaro *Boh ...

– 1999 * Una Decada de Rock – BMG - 2000

Most Notable songs

Some of the notable songs are: * Los Demas (top ten Billboard hit with Julio Iglesias jr.) * Cristina Maria (Hit single from the album, “Normal”) * No Soy Gringo (Hit single from the album, “Normal”) * Caramelo (Hit single for Alejandra Guzman) * Dejala Que Baile (Hit song for Michael Stuart) * Todo El Año (Billboard #1 song with Obie Bermudez) * Por Una Mujer (Billboard top 20 song for Luis Fonsi) * Olvidare (hit single and video from the album, “Individual”) * Selfish (Hit single from the album, “Normal”) * Normal (Hit single from the album, “Normal”) * Dando Vueltas (hit single and video from the album, “Individual”) * Como Ayer (song for Jimena Anger for her grammy nominated album Día Azul) * Closer Tonight (features on

Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smar ...

smartphones as default music))

References

External links

Elsten Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Elsten 1965 births Living people American singer-songwriters American entertainers of Cuban descent