Elvis Crespo

Elvis Crespo is a Puerto Rican singer specializing in the merengue genre of tropical music. He was born Elvis Crespo Díaz on July 30, 1971, in New York City, New York. He moved to Guaynabo, Puerto Rico with his mother at the age of 6. After realizing his aspirations for professional baseball and joining pop group Menudo were unlikely, he began singing with the Willie Berríos Orchestra and other merengue bands while studying business administration at San Juan's Metropolitan University of Puerto Rico. Elvis Crespo's career took off in 1995 when he joined Grupo Manía, a renowned merengue act in Puerto Rico, and introduced a unique, romantic style to the genre. After three successful years with the band, he decided in 1998 to embark on a solo career. His debut album, Suavemente (1998), saw massive success across Spanish-speaking markets, reaching the top of the US Latin pop charts. The album's title track, "Suavemente," and the romantic single "Nuestra Canción," garnered significant recognition. The success of this album earned Elvis Crespo the Latin Music Award for Best Male Tropical/Salsa Album from Billboard magazine. Riding on the wave of his debut success, he released Píntame in 1999, which bagged him his second consecutive Billboard Latin Music Award and went to Number 1 on the Top Latin Albums chart. In 2000, Elvis Crespo released his third album, Wow! Flash, showcasing his versatility beyond merengue. Released in 2004, his fifth album Saboréalo would later earn him the Latin Grammy award for Best Merengue Album. Elvis Crespo continued his streak of successful album productions with albums such as Regresó el Jefe (2007), One Flag (2013), and Multitudes (2021).