Rudy Amado Pérez

Rudy Amado is a Cuban-American musician, composer, producer, arranger, sound engineer, musical director, singer, businessman, and philanthropist.

Over the last 30 years, he has produced more than 70 albums, composed more than a thousand songs, of which 300 have reached the "top ten" on music charts. He is one of the founders of the Latin Grammys of the Latin Recording Association (LARAS) and also a co-founder of the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Rudy Pérez was named Producer of the Decade by Billboard Magazine for having more top ten hits than any other producer between 2000 and 2010.

He has written and produced songs for artists such as Beyonce, Julio Iglesias, Christina Aguilera, IL Divo, Natalie Cole, Michael Bolton, Luis Miguel, Jose Feliciano, Marc Anthony, Jon Secada, Cyndi Lauper, Roberto Carlos, Los Temerarios, Juan Gabriel, Alejandro Fernandez, Marco Antonio Solis, Jose Luis Rodriguez (El Puma) Alexandre Pires, Arturo Sandoval, Chayene, Luis Fonsi, Dima Bilan, Leonid Agutin, and Jaci Velasquez, Juan Luis Guerra among many others. He is the first Latin record producer to win the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks Producer of the Year award for four consecutive years. Pérez has also been awarded ASCAP Songwriter of the Year 5 times.

He has been called by industry leaders, "the producer, composer with the Midas touch". It is no wonder why he has received more than 500 gold and platinum record awards, and his works have been nominated for 19 Grammy Awards, with five wins.

Rudy was born in Pinar del Río; his parents were Baptists (his grandfather had been a minister of that church). His mother's name was Elsa Pérez. His father, Rudy Amado, was a lieutenant in the Cuban Navy during the time of dictator Fulgencio Batista, and was imprisoned after January 1959 following the triumph of the Cuban Revolution.

Young Rudy Pérez discovered his interest in music in his childhood. He could sing perfectly in tune with any song, and used any object as an instrument. But it was when he heard the music of Frederic Chopin that he decided to become a musician and began studying piano.

When Rudy Pérez was 9 years old, his family emigrated from Pinar del Río (Cuba) to Miami (United States). There he learned to sing and play instruments at the Baptist church.

Pérez began playing instruments and singing at the Baptist church in Miami, Florida, the same year he arrived in that city. He also received influence from the African American community, which introduced him to rhythm and blues and gospel music.

He wanted to buy an electric guitar, but since his parents could not afford it, at twelve years old Pérez found work at a company that manufactured barbed wire and used child labor. When he finally was able to buy his guitar, he could not play it for three months due to the damage his fingers had suffered at the factory.

Pearly Queen
Rudy Pérez abandoned his studies to join several rock bands in his neighborhood, until he was invited to join the band Pearly Queen (a cover band of hit songs that achieved popularity in Miami in 1973) when he was 15 years old. The group signed a contract to play at Big Daddy Flanigan clubs in the United States and Canada (in 90 locations), and they played 5 sets each night, 5 or 6 nights a week. This period introduced Rudy to music production, as he was responsible for the arrangements of the versions the band played. Rudy remained in the band for five years until he quit to produce and write for local artists in Miami.

Career as Songwriter
Miami Sound Studios and Beginnings as Songwriter
Later, he began working as an assistant at Miami Sound Studios, with Carlos Granado, performing tasks such as cleaning the studio or getting food for those who worked there. Pérez literally lived in the studio for two years while going through a divorce, and it was during this time that he began to learn sound engineering. In 1983 he began working as an intern at Climax Studios owned by Pablo Cano, in North Miami, where he was also allowed to live for a year and a half. He continued arranging details of albums and songs that other artists recorded there, including Cano's own children, whom he recorded to learn and practice. According to Pérez himself, he was discovered by Pablo Cano's niece when she heard him sing an original composition. She showed the ballad to Cano, who decided to hire him with "a good salary" to make an album with him. During this time he began working with other artists he met at the studio, such as Roberto Carlos and Gloria Estefan, and continued studying music. Later, Pérez released the album What Am I Going to Do Without You?. José Menéndez, who worked at RCA Records, heard the work and decided to hire him.

At this point he became a producer. Weeks later, while on a promotional tour through Puerto Rico with Pablo Cano, he met José Feliciano, who heard his version of "What Am I Going to Do Without You?" and asked him to produce his next album. Pérez produced most of the songs on Feliciano's album, I Am Yours, which reached number 1 with the song "You Have Cast Me Into Oblivion". The album also received two nominations for the 1985 Grammy Awards for Producer and Song of the Year (for "She") and marked Feliciano's return to the elite of Latin music, making Rudy Pérez a sought-after producer and songwriter.

Career as Songwriter from 1986
José Feliciano was the first singer Rudy Pérez produced.
In 1986, Pérez won a Grammy as a producer in the "best Latin pop performance" category, for the song "I Am Yours" by José Feliciano, and was named "Producer of the Year" for the first time by Billboard Magazine. In 1993 he released his second album, Rudy. That same year (1993), the record company EMI hired him to work on the production of Luis Miguel's album Aries, which involved signing an exclusivity contract that prevented him from producing for others until 1997. The following year (1994) he won another Grammy as producer and composer of Luis Miguel's album.

In 1997, after the end of his contract with EMI, Pérez composed and produced the album by Mexican singer Cristian Castro, The Best of Me. The album included the title single, which remained on the rankings for 90 weeks, "After You, What?", and "If You Would Love Me". The album reached number 1 on the Hot Latin Tracks chart, and received a nomination for Best Latin Pop Album in 1998. "After You, What?" was a song he dedicated to his late mother, and the song was a huge hit for which a music video was filmed featuring Rudy Pérez with Cristian Castro and Raúl di Blasio. Castro's album, along with "From Now On" by Millie, and "A Voice in the Soul", also composed by Rudy Pérez, earned him ASCAP awards in the year 2000.

In 1997, Pérez's work with Ricky Martin also reached #1 on Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks. In 1999 he won an Ace Award for Album of the Year for Señor Bolero, by José Feliciano. The album by Jaci Velasquez, Reach You, also from his production, included the ballad "Only You", which reached the top 10 of Billboard's Latin Chart. This year he obtained a new ASCAP award as songwriter of the year.

In 2000, Rudy Pérez produced Luis Fonsi's album, Eternal, and composed 7 of the 13 songs on the album, including the hit Imagine Me Without You, and its English version. That same year he produced Christina Aguilera's Spanish-language album, My Reflection, which became one of the most successful Spanish-language albums in the world, selling a million copies in the United States and another 2.5 million in the rest of the world. The album won the 2001 Latin Grammy for Best Pop Album by a Female Artist. The success of this album and the Grammy allowed him to work producing and composing songs in Spanish for English-speaking artists such as Michael Bolton and Westlife.

In 2002, his work as producer for Jaci Velasquez earned the song "Imagine Me Without You" a nomination for the CMA Awards as Best Song of the Year. Pérez also wrote the song "I Wanna Hear You Say It" for Michael Bolton. He also worked on songs in English for Charlie Williams ("If You Should Leave Me") and Julia Kova ("Don't Go for Anything but Love"). The success of his songs becomes evident when so many of them reach the top of the charts. In 2002, the song he produced for Pilar Montenegro, "Take That Man Away from Me", reached number 1, where it stayed for 13 consecutive weeks. That was also the case with the song he produced in 2002 for Jennifer Peña, "The Pain of Your Presence", which remained at number 1 for nine weeks.

In 2002, Rudy Pérez also worked on Jordi's album, You Don't Suspect, for which he composed 11 songs, including the single that gives the album its name. In 2004, Rudy Pérez created his own label, Rudy Pérez Enterprises (RPE). In 2005 he was named "Latin producer/composer of the year". He also composed all the songs on Il Divo's album, and produced Beyoncé's Spanish-language album, Irreplaceable.

In September 2009 he launched Bullseye Productions, his second record company.

In January 2010 he received the Producer of the Decade award from Billboard Magazine.

In 2012 Pérez released The Best of Me, a compilation with many of the songs he wrote for other singers, performed by him. He also produced the first Spanish-language album by singer Natalie Cole, Natalie Cole in Spanish.

Rudy Pérez and Desmond Child founded the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame, which was inaugurated in October 2012 in Miami Beach, to honor the most important Latin artists with 20 or more years of career.

Currently Pérez is working on a book with hundreds of stories from artists he has worked with.

In Other Media
Rudy Pérez has also produced and created music for numerous soundtracks for Television and film, in addition to working with advertising companies, producing music for their advertisements. He was hired by AT&T to compose and produce music for his "True Voice" and "Leadership" campaigns, performed by Cuban singer Jon Secada. Pérez also composed the original Univision theme in 1995, which is still used today. He also composed the song "Come As You Are" for the Valentine's Day special of Beverly Hills, 90210. In 1992 he was hired by Disney for the pre-production of the song Colors of the Wind, for the animated film, Pocahontas. He also wrote the official song for Telemundo's Olympic coverage in English and Spanish, which was performed by Michelangelo Rodríguez, as well as the song "Let's Go to the World Cup" for the 2002 World Cup, sung by Jennifer Peña.

In 2007 he produced the song "Gypsy Love" for the telenovela The Zorro: The Sword and the Rose, which was recorded as a duet by Alejandro Fernández and Beyoncé.

Personal Life
Rudy Pérez has one daughter from his first marriage and four children with his second wife Betsy.

Philanthropic Activities
In 2003, Pérez launched a scholarship program from the ASCAP Foundation, which allows talented Hispanic composers to study at prestigious music schools around the world that include Juilliard School of Music in New York, the National Music Conservatory of Puerto Rico, and the College of Art and Music at the University of Texas. In 2012, Pérez, David Frangioni, Mark Hudson, and Jon Secada developed an education program called IDA (Inspire and Develop Artists) in order to guide talented musicians so they can develop their full potential.

Discography (as a soloist)
1984: What Am I Going to Do Without You.
1993: Rudy.
2012: The Best of Me.

Awards
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Awards
Pérez has won the following ASCAP awards.

1994 "Yesterday" Pop Songs Winner
1995 "You and I" Winner
"Living What Is Ours" Tropical Songs Winner
1996 "Stop Forgetting Me" Winner
1998 "The Best of Me" Pop Songs Winner
1999 Winner
"Love Never Asks" Tropical Songs Winner
Himself Songwriter of the Year Winner
2000 Winner
"A Voice in the Soul" Pop Songs Winner
"From Now On" Winner
"After You... What?" Winner
2001 "What Am I Going to Do Without You" Regional Mexican Songs Winner
"Imagine Me Without You" ("Imagine me without you"). Pop/Ballad Songs Winner
"Only You" Winner
2002 "How to Cure a Wound" Winner
2003 "The Pain of Your Presence" Winner
"There's Another in Your Place" Winner
"I Wish I Could Forget About You" Winner
2004 Himself Songwriters of the Year Winner
"If You're Not Here" Pop/Ballad Songs Winner
2005 Himself Songwriter of the Year Winner
"I Called You" Pop/Ballad Songs Winner
"I Live and Die in Your Skin" Winner
2011 "Love, Stay" Pop/Ballad Songs Winner
2012 "My Heart Insists" Pop Songs Winner