Born Robert Edward Rosa Suarez on June 27, 1969, Long Island, New York. As “Robby Rosa” he was a member of Menudo from Valentine’s Day, 1984 to 1987. He replaced Johnny Lozada in Menudo and soon became another fan favorite. He sang such hits like Tu Sabes A Chocolate, Hold Me and Like A Cannonball, which was featured in Hollywood hit Cannonball Run 2. He was replaced in Menudo by Ruben Gomez after the band’s manager denied Rosa the opportunity to contribute songs to the group. However, Rosa quits at 16 before reaching the age of 18 which tipically marked the retiring age for members of the boy-band.
After Menudo, Rosa went on to star in a minor Hollywood hit, the 1988 movie Salsa. On the set, Rosa fell in love with his co-star Angela Alvarado. They wed a few months after the movie’s release, started raising a family and have also been working as partners in Rosa’s different projects ever since.
In 1990 Rosa moved to Los Angeles and formed a rock band called “Maggie’s Dream” which released an album under Capitol Records. In the early 1990’s Rosa legally changed his name to “Draco Cornelius Rosa” (draco means “dragon” in Latin) saying he wanted to leave his old image and lifestyle behind. During this time, he released two albums which differ greatly from each other. The first one, Frío was released in 1994 and featured a pop sound along with soft rock influences. His second major work, Vagabundo, was released in 1996 and marked a drastic change from the previous album and image. Under the name Draco, Rosa created a heavy and dark album that carried elements of goth, psychedelia, and heavy metal. Vagabundo is considered one of the greatest Rock en Español albums of all time.
During this time Rosa began collaborating with former Menudo colleague Ricky Martin, co-writing many of Martin’s biggest hits, among them “Livin’ La Vida Loca”, “She Bangs”, “Maria” and “The Cup of Life”. He and co-writer Desmond Child earned Grammy nominatios for their work with Martin.
In 1998 he released his first english-language album, titled Songbirds and Roosters. It featured the english versions of the tracks from his debut album Frío. In 2001 Rosa released a Greatest Hits album called Libertad del Alma which featured songs from an upcoming album in which he had been working for more than three years.
In 2003, Draco again re-invented himself yet again, in preparation for the release of his most ambitious project yet, an album titled Mad Love Released in March 2004, the album contained tragic love themes in different musical genres ranging from hard rock to flamenco ballads. The album was comprised of 15 songs, 3 of which are sung in Spanish. The album was the first to earn Rosa international recognition beyond Latin America, becoming widely popular in Europe. Rosa toured the continent with Lenny Kravitz in the summer of 2004.
Rosa received a Latin Grammy Award in 2004 for the video clip of the song “Más y Más”. In September 2004, Draco took his show to Puerto Rico’s new 18,000-capacity Coliseo de Puerto Rico, selling out the venue. A CD/DVD of the event was released on December 6, 2005, titled DRACO Al Natural. He capped 2005 with 7 sold out concerts at Puerto Rico’s “Bellas Artes” theatre in the month of September and proceeded to focus on a new spanish-language album for 2007.
Rosa currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife Angela and two sons, Revel and Redamo, although he also has a residence in Puerto Rico. Rosa has been known for using many different pseudonyms when writing songs for other artists. Among them are “Dolores del Infante”, “Ian Blake” and “Phantom Vox”. On December 19, 2005 multi-artist Celso Gonzalez introduced an instalation called “El Ultimo Viaje: El Entierro de Robi Rosa” (“The Final Voyage: The Burial of Robi Rosa”) at Puerto Rico’s Museo de Arte Contemporaneo.
