Johnatan Dwayne (born July 31, 1963) is a musician, composer, and artist who introduced the musical concept of

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...

into Puerto Rico.

Early years

Dwayne was born in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the ju ...

the capital city of the island. In the 1980s he belonged to the musical group

Words Four Two A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consen ...

, singing lead and composing. The dominating musical styles in Puerto Rico at this time were

Salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: A ...

and Merengue, but the group's release of "Somethin' in the Air" was a hit, and made Art Rock a competing style; this song was followed by "Society Killed by Who".Popular Culture
/ref> In 1991, after the group broke up, Dwayne composed for others, creating the Spanish version of "Pocket" for

Ednita Nazario Edna María Nazario Figueroa (born April 11, 1955) is a Puerto Rican musician, singer, and composer who has achieved stardom both at home and abroad. She has been in the music business from a young age and has released twenty-three (23) studi ...

, and "Metamorfosis". His first

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

as composer was for "Un Corazon Hecho Pedazos" (meaning "A Heart Broken to Pieces").Mar Gramde Exitos- Ednita Nazario
/ref> He won the Tu Musica Award and also an award from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' and ASCAP. Nazario's recording of his "Pasiones" ("Passions") went

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

. Commissions followed from additional Puerto Rican singers, including

Lunna Lunna (born June 30, 1960; born María Socorro García de la NocedaGarcia de la Noceda is her paternal surname) is a Puerto Rican singer of popular music and jazz who was the director of the television show ''Objetivo Fama'', the Latin version ...

and Jailene Cintrón. Dwayne won the

Silver Ermita Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

award, in Colombia, as a vocal soloist. Two of Dwayne's works as a painter, ''Personajes'' and ''Ser es des Nudos'', have been exhibited in various expositions.

Acting career

In 2000, he made his debut as actor in the soap opera ''Hombres de Honor'' (Men of Honor). He has participated in over 20 soap operas so far. In 2004, he made his American stage debut in Washington, D.C., as Don Luis in

Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño (, ; ; 17 January 160025 May 1681) was a Spanish dramatist, poet, writer and knight of the Order of Santiago. He is known as one of the most distinguished Baroque ...

's ''La Dama Duende'' ("The Elf Lady"). One of the outfits worn by Dwayne during his days as a member of the group Word Four Two is currently on display at the

Hard Rock Cafe Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and ...

Old San Juan Old San Juan ( es, Viejo San Juan) is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the islet of San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Catedral, Marina, Mercado, San Cristóbal, and San Francisco sub-barrios (s ...

Early years

Acting career

See also

References

External links