Lefty Perez

Salsa vocalist Lefty Perez was born in the barrios of New York, where he lived until the age of 13, at which time he returned with his parents to their home island of Puerto Rico. Lefty, the son of professional guitar player Mirito Perez, was exposed to music from his infancy, and showed an affinity for song and performance early on. Ironically, his first professional performances were not musical, but as an actor on the Venezuelan telenovela La Revancha. The fruitful recording career that followed included collaborations with top-shelf producers and composers such as Larry Harlow, Ray Barretto, Conjunto Clasico, Johnny Pacheco and more. The young salsero's solo debut, Working Out, came out in 1990. Though Perez released a number of projects throughout the '90s, it wasn't until 1997's Soy Tuyo on the Caiman label that his music won a large audience. Perez acted as co-producer and composer, investing more personally than he had in any previous project. The album's single "Me da Locura" placed in a variety of Latin categories on Billboard charts in 1997, a success that Perez would not repeat until ten years later, with 2007's Salseros Unidos. The record's title track was a hit on tropical radio, a significant success without major-label support. Perez continues to record and perform throughout the U.S., joining the ranks of salsa musicians trying to bridge the gap for a younger generation of listeners via reggaeton/pop crossover projects. ~ Evan C. Gutierrez, Rovi