Roberto Gómez is the only Cuban winner at the 2024 Grammy Awards

February 6, 2024

Cuban musician Roberto Luis Gómez Rodríguez stood out this past weekend by becoming one of the Grammy winners during the 66th ceremony of the music industry's biggest awards.

Currently residing in Los Angeles, California, the Cuban is part of the American guitar trio, known as The String Revolution.

The group won the award in the category of "Best arrangement, instrumental or a cappella," thanks to their version of the song Folsom Prison Blues, in which they collaborated with Australian guitarist Tommy Emmanuel.

Apart from Gómez, salsa legend Celia Cruz had been the only Cuban artist to win an Anglo Grammy in the entire history of the awards.

Gómez has been living in the United States for more than seven years, where he has been able to dedicate himself to music, but the truth is that he already had a rich musical career from when he was in Cuba.

His experience includes collaborations with renowned groups such as Santiago Feliú, William Roblejo and Real Project, where he stood out not only as a guitarist, but also for his role as a producer and arranger.

During his time in Feliú's group, he shared the stage with well-known musicians from the Island such as Robertico Carcasés on piano, and Oliver Valdés on drums, this being the period during which he became most known musically.

Now, as part of The String Revolution, he has stood out for performing covers of iconic songs by artists such as Michael Jackson and Sting. His debut EP, Stringborn, released in 2016, and his later album Red Drops, both produced by engineer Matt Hyde, were award-winning in their genre.

The Michael Jackson version of Billie Jean, performed by this guitar trio, has achieved success by ranking among the top 10 most-listened-to instrumental songs on Spotify, a platform on which their pieces exceed 5 million streams.

It is worth noting that Folsom Prison Blues was produced by John Carter Cash, son of the famous musician Johnny Cash, who was moved to be part of this project that pays tribute to the memory of his father.