Tomás Torres Carrasquillo (; born November 25, 1971), known professionally as Tommy Torres (), is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and record producer.(4 April 2008)
Latin songwriter/producer releases solo disc
, ''Reuters'' Named "#1 Hot Latin Tracks Producer" of 2007 by ''

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 ...

'' magazine and Composer of the Year at 2010

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

's Latin Music Awards, Torres has written and produced songs for many artists including

Ricardo Arjona Edgar Ricardo Arjona Morales (born 19 January 1964), known as Ricardo Arjona (), is a Guatemalan singer and songwriter. He is one of the most successful and best-selling Latin American artists of all time, with more than 20 million records sold ...

, Jesse & Joy,

Ednita Nazario Edna María Nazario Figueroa (born April 11, 1955) is a Puerto Rican Latin pop singer 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 studio albums, seven live ...

Alejandro Sanz Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro, better known as Alejandro Sanz (; born 18 December 1968), is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He has won 22 Latin Grammy Awards and four Grammy Awards. He has received the Latin Grammy for Latin Grammy Award ...

Ricky Martin Enrique Martin 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 incorporati ...

and

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

Early life

Born in the Santurce district of

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

, Torres learned to play the violin and keyboards at a young age. He started composing when he was in high school. He then enrolled in

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

where he graduated magna cum laude with a dual major of "''Music Production & Engineering''"and "''Commercial Arranging''". Torres lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

for a while working as a studio assistant at the famed

Sony Music Studios Sony Music Studios was an American music recording and mastering facility in New York City. The five-story building was a music and broadcasting complex located at 460 W. 54th Street, at 10th Avenue, in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhat ...

and later moved to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, Florida in 1998.

Musical career

Writer and producer

His first recorded composition was "''No Puedo Olvidar''" by pop group MDO in 1999. The song made it to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart. That same year, another one of his compositions, "''Llegar A Ti''" was recorded by Christian artist Jaci Velasquez and quickly climbed to the No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart, earning him an

Song of the Year award. In 2001, his production of "Cuando Seas Mia" by group Son By Four also made it to the No. 1 spot on Billboard. His work on '' Acustico'' by

as co-producer, songwriter, and featured artist, earned his first

Latin Grammy Awards The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music, Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish language, S ...

nomination in 2002. Later that year, he produced the critically acclaimed "''Encuentro''" featuring singer-songwriter's

Juan Luis Guerra Juan Luis Guerra Seijas (born 7 June 1957) is a People of the Dominican Republic, Dominican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. Throughout his career, he has won numerous awards including 28 Latin Grammy Awards, three Grammy Awards, ...

Ruben Blades Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Reuvein in Yiddish or as an English variant spelling on th ...

, and

Draco Rosa Draco Cornelius Rosa Suárez (; born Robert Edward Rosa Suárez, June 27, 1969), also known as Draco Rosa, Robi Draco Rosa or simply Robi or Draco, is a Puerto Rican singer, musician, songwriter and entrepreneur. Rosa originally garnered fame ...

. In 2003 he produced

's '' Almas del Silencio'', an album that included songwriting collaborations with artists

Franco de Vita Franco Atilio De Vita De Vito (born January 23, 1954, in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan Latin Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter. His first album as a solo artist garnered three Spanish-language hits in Venezuela. He signed with the ...

, and

Juanes Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez (born 9 August 1972), known professionally as Juanes, is a Colombian musician who was a member of the Rock music, rock band Ekhymosis and is now a solo artist. Since releasing his solo debut album ''Fíjate B ...

. The album broke the Soundscan one week sales record for an all-Spanish album. The single "''Tal Vez''" topped the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks for 12 weeks. The song, written by

with musical arrangements and production by Torres, went on to win "''Song of the Year''" at that 2003's

. The album also gave 3 additional No. 1 singles. Later that year Torres produced the album "''Por Ti''" by

. Both Nazario's "Por Ti" and Martin's "Almas del Silencio" went on to win Best Pop Album Awards (Female/Male) at 2004's

Billboard Latin Music Awards The ''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards grew out of the ''Billboard'' Music Awards program from ''Billboard'' magazine, an industry publication charting the sales and radio airplay success of musical recordings. The ''Billboard'' awards are the La ...

earning Tommy his first nomination for Producer of the Year at the

. Later on in 2004, Torres began work on '' Adentro'' by singer-songwriter

. The album was an instant hit with both critics and the public. The song "''Acompañame a Estar Solo''", penned by Arjona with musical arrangements and production by Torres, became No. 1 on the

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...

charts. The album "''Adentro''" won several awards on 2005, including Best Latin Pop Album at the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

and Best Pop Album at the

. On 2006, Torres produced

's ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...

'', which included new arrangements of early

hits and three new songs. The album was well received with both commercial and critical success. The song "''Tu Recuerdo''", penned by Torres, topped the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks for 7 weeks and maintained a top 20 spot on the chart for an astonishing 26 weeks. The song featured La Mari from flamenco-electronic group Chambao and Torres on acoustic guitar and vocal. The song "''Tu Recuerdo''" was nominated for Song of the Year on several awards in 2007, including the

and

, Premios MTV Latinoamerica, and winning the coveted

Pop Song of the Year Award. The album "''MTV Unplugged''" picked up an equal number of nominations and eventually went on to win two

for Best Pop Album and Best Longform Video. The song "'' Pegate''", co-written by Torres, Martin, and Roy Tavare, became a Top 10 hit on several countries in Latin America and Europe. It also won an

recognition at the ASCAP Music Awards. A new collaboration with singer-songwriter

resulted in the song "Quien", from the album "Quien Dijo Ayer". The song was written by Arjona (lyrics) and Torres (music) reaching the top 10 of the Billboard charts. Also on the same album, Torres produced and arranged the songs "Quiero" and "Tarde (Sin Danos A Terceros)", a duet with Arjona and Spanish artist

Marta Sánchez Marta Sánchez López (born 8 May 1966) is a Spanish singer. She has sold more than 10 million albums. Biography Marta was born in Madrid, Spain. Her father, Antonio Sánchez Camporro, was an Asturian opera singer. She began her musical car ...

. The album "Quien Dijo Ayer", was nominated for Best Pop Album at the Billboard Latin Awards and

. He also co-produced the song "''Ya No Estamos Solos''" ("''Non Siamo Soli''"), a duet with

Eros Ramazzotti Eros Walter Luciano Ramazzotti (; born 28 October 1963) is an Italian Pop music, pop singer and songwriter. He is popular in Italy and most European countries, and throughout the Spanish-speaking world, as he has released most of his albums in bo ...

and

. The song became a No. 1 hit in several countries in Europe and Latin America but only reached Top20 status in the United States. In December 2007, ''

'' named Torres as the No. 1

Hot Latin Tracks The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, ...

producer of the year, becoming the first Puerto Rican to achieve that recognition. On 2008, the song " Como Duele", performed by Ricardo Arjona became the No. 1 song in Mexico and U.S. Latin pop radio. Torres is credited as co-producer and arranger on the song as well as the songs "Tocando Fondo", "Sin Ti, Sin Mi", and the title track "Quinto Piso". The album received a

nomination for Best Latin Pop Album and a

nomination for Best Singer-Songwriter Album. The album also became Arjona's career highest selling debut week. A new album by

titled "Soy" debuted No. 1 in Billboard Hot Latin Albums Charts and remained No. 1 for a second week in November 2009. Torres is listed as co-producer in 4 songs in the album and as composer of the song "Confesados". Also on 2009, Tommy Torres produced the album '' Paraiso Express'' for Spanish singer-songwriter

. The first single, " Looking for Paradise", featuring R&B singer-songwriter

, became the No. 1 radio song in every single Latin American country with the exception of Colombia, where the No. 1 spot was held by local favorite,

Carlos Vives Carlos Alberto Vives Restrepo (born 7 August 1961) is a Colombians, Colombian singer, songwriter and actor. One of the List of best-selling Latin music artists, best-selling Latin music artists of all time, with over 20 million records world ...

. The song also reached the No. 1 spot in Spain and the U.S. Billboard Latin Chart. "Looking for Paradise" was co-written by Sanz, Keys, & Torres. The album "Paraiso Express" won both a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

as Latin Pop Album of the Year and a

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...

for Pop Album of the Year. The song "Desde Cuando", written by Sanz and Torres, also earned a nomination for Song of the Year at the Latin Grammys. In November 2012, Torres won a

for Song of the Year with the song "Corre", a song co-written with Mexican duo Jesse & Joy. Other nominees on this category included writing powerhouses Joaquin Sabina, Juan Luis Guerra, Ricardo Arjona, Juanes, and Alejandro Sanz. On his acceptance speech, Torres thanked Jesse & Joy, the fans for "making this possible", and his wife and baby "watching at home." The music video for "Corre" is now the most watched music video of a Spanish language song in YouTube, with over 130,000,000 views.

Solo career

On June 19, 2001, Torres became a solo artist with the release of a self-titled album. The album included the Billboard Top 20 singles ''"Como Olvidar"'' and ''"Hoy Te Vas"''. The album was released on the Sony Discos label and was nominated for best album by a new artist on

Premios Lo Nuestro The Lo Nuestro Awards or Premios Lo Nuestro ( Spanish for "Ours") is a Spanish-language awards show honoring the best of Latin music, presented by TelevisaUnivision, and is carried by its Univision network in association with its related radio sta ...

. 2004 saw the independent release of Torres' second album "''Estar de Moda No Está de Moda''". The album included the singles "''De Rodillas''", "''Dame Esta Noche''", ''Un Poquito''", "''Besos y Sal''", "''Sigo Aqui''", and "''Vinito Pa'l Corazon''" . The first four singles were No. 1 airplay hits in his native

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

and Top 40 on the ''Billboard'' charts. "''De Rodillas''" reached No. 1 in several countries including Peru and Panama. On April 1, 2008, Torres released the album "Tarde o Temprano" thru the Warner Music Latina label. The album debut No. 1 on the Puerto Rico sales charts and maintained the top spot for four consecutive weeks, according to Soundscan reports. The first five radio singles "Pegadito", "Tarde o Temprano", "Por Un Beso Tuyo", "Imparable", and "Mar Adentro" reached both the No. 1 spot in Puerto Rico radio charts, and Top 20 in US Billboard charts. The singles "Tarde o Temprano" and "Imparable" reached the Top 10 in Mexico. On September 10, 2008 "''Tarde o Temprano''" was nominated for a

in the category of Best Singer-Songwriter Album. Torres performed at the Latin Grammy Awards ceremony in November 2008. On December 3, 2008, "''Tarde o Temprano''" was also nominated for a

in the Latin Pop Album of the Year field. The album was also nominated for Best Pop Album and Best Male Artist in

2009. A CD/DVD version of the album titled "Tarde o Temprano - Late Edition" was released on February 10, 2009. The album features several additional acoustic versions and videos, plus the single "Imparable", now featuring Mexican brother/sister duo Jesse & Joy. On its second week of release, "Tarde o Temprano - Late Edition" hit the top spots on the sales charts in the U.S. and the No. 1 spot in Puerto Rico according to SoundScan Nielsen. In February 2009, Tommy Torres joined

Sara Bareilles Sara Beth Bareilles ( ; born December 7, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. She has sold over three million albums and over 15 million singles in the United States. Bareilles has earned various accolades, including ...

Liz Phair Elizabeth Clark Phair (born April 17, 1967) is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to sta ...

, and 5 other artists to be the faces of the

Banana Republic In political science, the term ''banana republic'' describes a politically and economically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the export of natural resource.A banana republic is a country with an economy of state capitalism, where th ...

spring and summer ad campaigns. The national campaigns feature print advertising, window displays and billboards identifying the artists wearing the company's clothes. In February 2010, Tommy Torres received the Composer of the Year award at the ASCAP Latin Music Awards. His album, " 12 Historias", was released on October 2, 2012. Three singles, "Querido Tommy", "11:11", and "Mientras Tanto" have already been released. It debuted #1 on the Latin Album Charts. After signing with Rimas Entertainment in early 2021, his newest album '' El Playlist de Anoche'' will be released on July 23, 2021, co-written and co-produced with Puerto Rican rapper

Bad Bunny Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (; born March 10, 1994), better known by his stage name Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. Known as the " King of Latin Trap", Bad Bunny is credited with helping Spanish-language rap music achieve m ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Tommy 1971 births Living people Musicians from Santurce, Puerto Rico Singers from San Juan, Puerto Rico Berklee College of Music alumni Latin Grammy Award winners Puerto Rican male composers 21st-century Puerto Rican male singers 21st-century Puerto Rican singers Puerto Rican male singer-songwriters Puerto Rican pop singers Latin pop singers Latin music record producers Latin music songwriters Warner Music Latina artists Rimas Entertainment artists

Early life

Musical career

Writer and producer

Solo career

See also

References