dbo:abstract
| - Draco Cornelius Rosa Suárez (Spanish: [´dɾako koɾ´neljus ´rosa ´swaɾeθ]; born Robert Edward Rosa Suárez, June 27, 1969), also known as Robi Draco Rosa, Draco Rosa or simply Draco, is a multiple-time Grammy and Latin Grammy winning American-born Puerto Rican musician, singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, dancer, record producer and entrepreneur.Rosa originally garnered fame as a member of boy band Menudo in the 1980s, singing lead on the band's biggest stateside hit, %22Hold Me%22 and featuring prominently in the accompanying music video. After leaving the band he moved to Brazil where he released two albums, achieving mainstream success. Afterwards he moved to California and formed the band Maggie's Dream, which split after only one album, allowing him to resume his solo career. The singer and composer has released numerous studio and experimental albums, and has composed multiple songs for Ednita Nazario, Julio Iglesias and former Menudo band-mate, Ricky Martin. He has also been featured on VH1's Behind the Music.Rosa has been highly influenced by the works of Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Iggy Pop, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Luis Alberto Spinetta, The Doors, Camarón de la Isla, Horacio Quiroga, Caetano Veloso, Edgar Allan Poe and Glenn Danzig.In 1988, at age 19, he made his motion picture debut in the film Salsa, which was a big hit in Puerto Rico. During the filming of the movie, he met actress Angela Alvarado who would later become his wife.In 1996 he released the Latino alternative rock album Vagabundo produced by Phil Manzanera before helping launch Ricky Martin's musical career into a new global setting with Vuelve. Rosa wrote and produced various of Martin's hit singles including %22María%22, %22La Vida Loca%22, %22La Copa de La Vida%22, %22She Bangs%22 and %22Shake Your Bon-Bon%22, among others. Rosa toured with Lenny Kravitz during the summer of 2004 to promote his concept album Mad Love.In April 2011, Rosa was diagnosed with a non-hodgkin lymphoma cancer near his liver. He underwent alternative and traditional treatment in Houston and Santa Monica. This kept Rosa in a hiatus for almost a year until his return in March 2012, when he started recording his latest album with Vida, and gave a concert with Juan Luis Guerra and Rubén Blades at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot. In December 2012, he was declared cancer-free. On December 9, 2013, Rosa's manager confirmed his cancer had relapsed and overcame cancer once again after a second bone marrow transplant, but had to remain in quarantine for four additional months.
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