Anthony Santos (born July 21, 1981), known professionally as Romeo Santos, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and lead vocalist of the bachata band Aventura. In 2002, the song "Obsesión" reached number one in Italy for 16 consecutive weeks. He released several albums with Aventura before the group broke up. Since then, Santos has embarked on a solo career which in eight years has spawned seven number one songs on the Hot Latin Songs chart and sixteen number ones on the Tropical Songs chart. Santos is one of the most internationally recognized Latin artists of recent decades and is also recognized as the King of the Bachata genre. He has also stated that Ritchie Valens was an inspiration to him in some cases.
Santos was born in 1981 in The Bronx, New York City, to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother. He had a humble upbringing, with his father working in construction and his mother staying at home to take care of the family. Santos began his career by singing in a church choir at a young age. Romeo was exposed to latin genres of music at a young age due to his parents.