Luis Alfonso Rodríguez López-Cepero (born April 15, 1978), known by his stage name Luis Fonsi (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈlwis ˈfonsi]), is a Puerto Rican singer. He is known for his soulful and dance oriented songs, most notably 2017's "Despacito".
Fonsi received his first Latin Grammy Award nominations in the Record of the Year category and won Song of the Year thanks to the song "Aquí Estoy Yo". The song also won three Billboard Latin Music Awards. "Despacito" became Fonsi's biggest success, winning four Latin Grammy Awards, seven Billboard Latin Music Awards, five Billboard Music Awards and three Grammy Awards nominations. He also won one Latin American Music Award for "Échame la Culpa" with Demi Lovato.
As of 2018, Fonsi has broken six Guinness World Records and sold more than 11 million records with "Despacito", whose music video was the most-watched YouTube video of all time until November 2020, with over 8 billion views.
Fonsi was born on April 15, 1978, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the oldest child of Alfonso Rodríguez and Delia López-Cepero. He has two younger siblings: Jean Rodríguez, who also is a singer, and Tatiana Rodríguez.
Growing up, Fonsi idolized the stars of the popular group Menudo, and the San Juan Children's Choir.
At the age of 10, his family decided to move from Puerto Rico and relocated to Orlando, Florida. He attended Westridge Middle School and Dr. Phillips High School, both in Orlando. During his high school years, he participated in an a cappella group called "The Big Guys". They sang at school parties and local festivals. One of the members of the group, Joey Fatone, later joined *NSYNC.
In 1995, Fonsi enrolled at Florida State University School of Music on a full scholarship, He also joined the school's choir, the Florida State University Singers, and sang with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Eventually, he dropped out in order to pursue a career in music. Soon after, he was offered a recording contract by Universal Music Latin.
In 1997, Fonsi recorded his debut album, Comenzaré (I Will Begin), released in 1998. The record peaked at number 11 on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart and contained the singles "Si Tú Quisieras", "Perdóname", "Dime Como", and "Me Iré". Comenzaré became a hit in Puerto Rico and across Latin America, with Fonsi doing well in markets like Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, and Venezuela. His 2000 follow-up, Eterno, was even more successful. Around this time, Fonsi also recorded a duet with Christina Aguilera for her 2000 Spanish-language album, Mi Reflejo. On May 1, 2000, Fonsi performed at the Great Jubilee Concert for a Debt-Free World, an outdoor concert in Rome, attended by Pope John Paul II. That same year, Ednita Nazario won a Latin Grammy Award for a song composed by Fonsi. He also performed with other artists at the White House in honor of the victims of the September 11 attacks.
In 2002, Fonsi was the opening act for Britney Spears' Dream Within a Dream Tour in the US and Mexico. In the same year he debuted his English album "Fight The Feeling" trying to do a crossover with the first single "Secret" featuring Joey Fatone in the video. In 2003, Luis Fonsi performed to billions of viewers across the globe at Miss World 2003 in China.
His fifth CD, Abrazar la vida, sold very well, which opened new markets in Europe. "¿Quién Te Dijo Eso?" reached number one on the Billboard Latin charts. During his time in the studio for the next album, Fonsi recorded "Amazing", a duet with Spice Girl Emma Bunton for her 2004 album Free Me. His sixth CD, Paso a Paso, debuted at number one and sent him into international markets. "Nada Es Para Siempre" also reached number one on the music charts, and was a nominee for the Latin Grammy Awards. In 2006, he contributed to El Piruli, a tribute album honoring Víctor Yturbe, singing a classic bolero, "Historia de un Amor".
2007–2015: Palabras del Silencio, Tierra Firme, and 8
In 2007, Luis Fonsi was selected to be part of the jury of the new version of the Latino boy band Menudo. The band would be a fusion of urban, pop and rock music in English and Spanish to produce several albums with the label of Sony BMG Epic Records. Several auditions were held in different cities such as Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami, New York, among others. Fonsi was a part of the Dallas competition where along the side of radio announcer Daniel Luna they chose various contestants and in their pickings, rising star JC Gonzalez was 1 of the 25 selected. His sound producer was named Mariano Zunino from Argentina but moved to Florida.
His seventh CD, Palabras del Silencio, debuted and stayed in the number one position for many weeks. Luis Fonsi entered the US Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in September 2008 with his song "No Me Doy por Vencido", debuting at number 98 and peaking at number 92. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart, one of his biggest hits to date. "No Me Doy por Vencido" became Billboard's "Latin Pop Song of the Decade", and spent 21 weeks at number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart.
In November 2009, Luis Fonsi was awarded a Latin Grammy Award for "Song of the Year" for his composition "Aquí Estoy Yo".
On December 11, 2009, Fonsi performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, honoring recipient President Barack Obama.
In 2011, Fonsi released the album Tierra Firme, and went on tour to promote it throughout Latin America.
On July 9, 2011, Billboard named Fonsi "Leader of Latin Music's New Generation".
In 2014, Fonsi released his album 8, a reference to his eighth career album. He then did a tour named "Somos Uno" in 2014–15. He also mentioned that acting would be on his career path and that he wouldn't mind acting with Mexican actors and actresses.