Julito Rodríguez Reyes was born on October 5, 1925, in Santurce, Puerto Rico, and he died on July 27, 2013 in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. He was a great bolero singer, child prodigy, guitarist and composer.
He started developing his love for music ever since he was only a child and he became famous as a child prodigy in music. When he was a child, his father encouraged him to study the violin and this helped him to join the Banda Hatuey as a substitute. He also had his first guitar as a present offered to him by his mother.
Reyes moved across the island to Ponce, which is a town situated in the south coast. There, he established the “Orquesta Hatuey de Ponce”. In 1946, he returned to San …show more content…
Juan, where he studied at the Universidad de Puerto Rico. In addition, he also joined there the ROTC band, which was directed by Rafael Alers.
He developed his love for music and hence he found a new musical passion, by 1947, for the trio music. He founded his first trio, which was named “Los Romanceros” and which enjoyed significant success. However, in 1950, Rodriguez decided to join the US military.
In 1952, Rodriguez was convinced by Rafael Hernández to join the famous trio called Los Panchos.
This helped him extend his fame beyond Puerto Rico and the Latin America. Some of the countries where the group made tours in included Portugal, Spain, Italy and even countries in the Middle East, such as Israel and Lebanon. The group also recorded 122 songs in Mexico, where Reyes became an idol.
Rodríguez formed the group called Trio Los Primos, which in 1961 became the first trio from Puerto Rico to perform at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. After a time, the group changed its name to Julito Rodgriguez and his Trio and it continued to exist for more than 16 years. This group was considered to be one of the best Puerto Rican trios. Representing the beautiful island of Puerto Rico in their songs, this group traveled all over the world and entertained thousands of people with their amazing music.
By the year 1975, Reyes has left the group and moved on, forming another trio, which was called Los Tres Grandes, and which is translated into English as The Three Great Ones. This newly formed trio recorded nine LP albums and they sang together until 1983, when Rodrigues considered it was about time for him to return to a more provate
life.
As in what regards his career as a composer, Rodriguez was the writer for one of the Latin American bolero repertory’s classics – Mar y cielo (Sea and Sky).
He died at the age of 87, due to health complications. However, he remains in the memory of Puerto Ricans as one of the greatest singers and his fame has gone beyond the limits of Puerto Rico, reaching many countries of the US.