Ray Sepúlveda is a salsa singer born in Brooklyn, New York. He recorded three albums with Orquestra Sociedad 76 in the late 1970s and two albums with Johnny & Ray in the late 1980s before launching a solo career in the 1990s. Sepúlveda grew up in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

and the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

, where his father, Ramon Sepúlveda, sang

boleros Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It ha ...

with his group Trio Los Romanticos. When he was a teenager, his family moved to Puerto Rico, where Sepúlveda sang with local groups in Mayaguez, including Orquestra La Justicia & Orquestra La Dictadora with

Frankie Ruiz José Antonio Torresola Ruiz better known as Frankie Ruiz (March 10, 1958 – August 9, 1998) was an American salsa singer and songwriter of Puerto Rican descent. He was a major figure in the ''salsa romántica'' subgenre that was popular in the ...

. In 1977 he returned to New York and recorded with Orquestra Sociedad 76 with Johnny Zamot and was part of that band for four years and recorded three albums. In early 1983 he worked with

Adalberto Santiago Adalberto Santiago (born April 23, 1937, in Pozas barrio, Ciales, Puerto Rico) is an internationally known salsa singer. Career Adalberto's relaxed and flawless lead vocals are among the best in the salsa genre of Latin music. His early inf ...

. He left music from 1984 until the middle of 1988, when he and Zamot formed the group Johnny & Ray. Their first album, ''Salsa Con Clase'', featured the hit singles "Mi amor, amor", "Mascarada" and "Margarita". The second Johnny & Ray album included the hit single "Bandolera". Sepúlveda's solo career started in 1991 with the album ''Un Poquito Mas'', produced by Sergio George for Sony/

RMM Records RMM Records, also known as RMM Records & Video Corp, was an independent Latin music record label established in 1987 and based in New York City. The label was most active during the late 1980s and early 1990s and produced primarily salsa, Latin j ...

. In 1992 ''Con Sabor'' reached the Latin ''

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 ...

'' charts. In 1994 ''Llegaste Tú'', produced by Julito Alvarado and recorded in Puerto Rico, 1997 ''De Todo Un Poco'', produced by Ricky Gonzalez and he returned in 1999 with another hit single, "Eres" in an album titled ''¡Salsabor!'' This album was produced in Puerto Rico by Luis Garcia. Singles Allmusic

Discography

* ''Salsa Con Clase'' with Johnny & Ray (

Polygram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be ...

, 1988) * ''Night Gold'' with Johnny & Ray (Polygram, 1989) * ''Un Poquito Más'' ( RMM, 1991) * ''Con Sabor'' (RMM 1992) * ''Combinación Perfecta'' with Familia RMM (RMM, 1993) * ''Llegaste Tú'' (RMM 1994) * ''De Todo Un Poco'' (RMM, 1997) * ''¡Salsabor!'' (RMM, 1999)

Compilations

*''Los Maestros de la Salsa'' (Solo Album, 1996) *''Lo Mejor de Ray Sepúlveda: Éxitos, Solo Éxitos'' (Solo Album, 2000)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sepulveda, Ray American male singers American musicians of Puerto Rican descent Living people Salsa musicians Musicians from Brooklyn People from the Bronx Singers from New York City Year of birth missing (living people) RMM Records artists