Siblings include Saned, Edwin, Ito, and José, who all have careers in salsa (one of his brothers was with Puerto Rican Power). In an interview with Maria Conchita Alonso (for "Al día con Maria Conchita"), Jerry talks about how sure his father was that he would succeed.
His parents, also musicians, inspired him to become a musician and as a child he would often accompany his mother Dominga, a singer, and father Edwin, a guitarist and director of Los Barones Trio, during their shows.
His favorite singers are Eddie Santiago, Lalo Rodriguez and, in particular, Frankie Ruiz. In 1986, when he was 13 years old, he accompanied his father who was performing at a hotel in Isla Verde, San Juan. Ruiz, who was a guest at the hotel, appeared and sang a couple of songs with them and had his picture taken alongside Rivera. In 2003 this picture was used by Rivera to make the album cover for his tribute Canto a mi Idolo... Frankie Ruiz ('I sing to my Idol... Frankie Ruiz'), who had died in 1998.
In 1988, Tommy Olivencia heard Rivera sing alongside his father and recommended that he sing solo. When Jerry was 14, his father made a demo and presented it to the CBS music department. They signed Rivera.
With his first album, Empezando A Vivir, Jerry Rivera earned the title "El Bebé de la Salsa" (the salsa baby). This project generated the hit, De La Cabeza A Los Pies (loosely translates to "From Head To Toes").
His second album, Abriendo Puertas ('Opening Doors'), produced the hit songs Esa Niña ('That Girl'), Dime ('Tell Me') and Como un Milagro ('Like a Miracle') became number one hits first in Puerto Rico, then among the Hispanic populations in the United States and finally across Latin America.
His third album, Cuenta Conmigo ('Count on Me'), won three Platinum Record awards in the United States, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Colombia. It became the most-sold salsa album in history, a record previously held by Willie Colon,[1] and held the number-one spot in the Latin American Billboards for three consecutive months. Its hit songs included the Cuenta Conmigo, Me Estoy Enamorado ('I am in Love') and Casi Un Hechizo. The number one hit for the album was Amores Como El Nuestro (Loves Like Ours) which is considered to be the best song by Rivera. Rivera was awarded two Premio Lo Nuestro Awards for "Singer of the Year" and "Album of the Year" and Sony Records presented him with three Crystal Awards.
The introduction of Amores Como El Nuestro was sampled by Haitian-rapper Wyclef Jean in his 2004 song "Dance Like This" from the soundtrack of Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights which would later become the worldwide number-one 2006 hit "Hips Don't Lie" by Colombian-singer Shakira and Wyclef, too.
In 1993, he released Cara de Niño ('Baby Face') with Que Hay De Malo ('That There of Bad') and Cara de Niño as hits.
In 1994, as his popularity was rising, he released his first compilation album, Lo Nuevo y lo Mejor (The New and the Best), and contained the single hit Me Estoy Enloqueciendo Por Ti.
In 1996, Rivera released "Fresco" and Una y Mil Veces (One Thousand and One Tries) became another hit for Rivera.
In 1999, Rivera recorded De Otra Manera ('Another Way'), which featured the bolero Ese. Jerry sang the song with his father at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan.
In 2000, Rivera recorded Para Siempre ('Forever'), and the hits were Amor de Novela, Navegándote, and Puerta Abierta. This was his album on Sony Latin records.
He has performed in Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras, Panama, the United States, Spain and Japan.
In 2001, he released his self-titled album Jerry Rivera, which would include ballad songs for the first time in his salsa career, and Quiero (I Want) would be the only hit. The year after, he recorded Vuela Muy Alto (She Flies High) which brought him a new fanbase all over Latin-America and the U.S., with the title track hit the top spot and the top 10 in many charts. The following year he released Cantando A Mi Idolo... Frankie Ruiz ('Singing To My Idol... Frankie Ruiz'), a tribute album to one of his idol Frankie Ruiz. The album ganer him a Latin Grammy nominatation and his hit was Ruiz's Mi Libertad featuring Voltio.
Rivera played a small role in the movie I Like It Like That and will appear as himself in a Latin American soap opera titled Mi destino eres tu ('You are my destiny') slated to air on Univision in the US during on November 2005. Rivera has also appeared in various Banco Popular de Puerto Rico productions, including Al Compas de un Sentimiento (dedicated to the late Puerto Rican composer Pedro Flores) and Con la musica por Dentro. Amores Como El Nuestro and Magia is another of his hit songs.
Discography
Empezando a Vivir (Beginning to Live) (1989)
Abriendo Puertas (Opening Doors) (1991)
Cuenta Conmigo (Count On Me) (1992)
Cara de Niño (Baby Face) (1993)
Jerry Rivera: Lo Nuevo Y Lo Mejor (Jerry Rivera: The New and the Best)
Magia (Magic) (1995)
Fresco (album) (Fresh) (1996)
Ya No Soy El Niño Aquel(I'm Not That Child Anymore) (1997)
De Otra Manera (In Other Words) (1998)
Oro Salsero (Salsa Gold) (2000)
Historia 1 (History 1) (2000)
Para Siempre (Forever) (2000)
Jerry Rivera (Rivera) (2001)
No Me Olvidaras (You Won't Forget Me) (2001)
Vuela Muy Alto (Fly Very High) (2002)
Cantando A Mi Idolo... Frankie Ruiz (Singing To My Idol... Frankie Ruiz) (2003)
Ay Mi Vida (Oh My Life) (2005)
20 Exitos Originales (20 originals) (2007)
Official Website
http://www.jerryrivera.com/
Una En Un Millon
Jerry Rivera Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
no verte mas,
no hablarte mas
dejarte ir...
Mantenerme al margen de tu piel
que duro fue
que horrible es
La distancia nunca me sirvio de nada
ni las desveladas
ni la alas en los pies
sin tu amor jamas volvi a tocar el cielo
me empeze a morir de celos
cuando me aleje...
CORO
Una en un millon
nuestra relacion
y me abandonate
Uno en un millon
este gran amor y te acobardate
una en un millon
Porque decias que me amabas
cuando me abrazabas y besabas asi
porque si tu sabias
que era todo una mentira
me dejaste asi
La distancia nunca me sirvio de nada
ni las desveladas
ni la alas en los pies
sin tu amor jamas volvi a tocar el cielo
me empeze a morir de celos
cuando me aleje...
In Jerry Rivera's song "Una En Un Millon," he talks about a relationship that has ended and how he is struggling to move on. He acknowledges that he promised not to see or talk to the person anymore, but he finds it difficult to keep his promise because he misses them so much. He talks about how hard it was to keep his distance and live without them. He states that being away from them did not help him, and he could not touch the sky without their love. He acknowledges that their relationship was one in a million, and it was a great love that they shared, but it was all for nothing because the person abandoned him.
In the chorus, he reiterates that their relationship was one in a million, and they had a great love that the person abandoned. He asks why they would lie to him by saying they loved him when it was all a lie, leaving him like this. He reiterates that being away did not serve him well, and he started to die of jealousy because he was away from the person he loved. In summary, the song talks about a great love that someone betrayed, which led to pain and heartache.
Line by Line Meaning
Se que un dia yo te prometi no verte mas, no hablarte mas dejarte ir...
I promised you that one day I would stop seeing you, stop talking to you, and let you go...
Mantenerme al margen de tu piel que duro fue que horrible es vivir sin ti...
Staying away from your skin was so hard, living without you is horrible...
La distancia nunca me sirvio de nada ni las desveladas ni la alas en los pies sin tu amor jamas volvi a tocar el cielo me empeze a morir de celos cuando me aleje...
Distance didn't work for me, nor did sleepless nights or speed without your love; I never touched the sky again and started dying of jealousy when I left...
CORO
Una en un millon nuestra relacion y me abandonate Uno en un millon este gran amor y te acobardate una en un millon
Chorus: One in a million was our relationship and you abandoned me, one in a million was this great love and you cowardly retreated, one in a million.
Porque decias que me amabas cuando me abrazabas y besabas asi porque si tu sabias que era todo una mentira me dejaste asi
Why did you say you loved me when you hugged and kissed me like that, when you knew it was all a lie and left me like this?
La distancia nunca me sirvio de nada ni las desveladas ni la alas en los pies sin tu amor jamas volvi a tocar el cielo me empeze a morir de celos cuando me aleje...
Distance didn't work for me, nor did sleepless nights or speed without your love; I never touched the sky again and started dying of jealousy when I left...
Contributed by Michael L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Jaison Basurto
Jerry jamás pasará de moda, tantos recuerdos que nostalgia
Nancy Nerio
❤ aunque ya ha pasado mucho tiempo la salsa jamás pasará de moda Siempre será uno de mis géneros favoritos❤
Jorge Sandoval
UNA EN UN MILLON DE JERRY RIVERA EXELENTE CANCION DE SALSA ROMANTICA PARA DEDICAR A UNA HERMOSA MUJER
Giusseppe Zuñiga
Solo a quien lo merezca
Mayer Mj
Vuelvo a los 90's cuando oigo a Jerry R ... Q lindos tiempos caray quiero volver a mis 15 ❤ su música no caduca
Yamo Heza
Sus canciones jamás pasarán de moda.
CESAR DANIEL
Yo tambien quisiera tener 13 fue mi mejor etapa de mi vida escuchando esas musicas con mi noviecita que hermoso recuerdo😢😢
Keyra Nunez
Mi artista en mi adolescencia y aún me fascinan estos temas!!! Que melancolía y bellos recuerdos 😍🤗
Giusseppe Zuñiga
Jerry es único
Ivelisse Escaño
Cuánta nostalgia...tantos recuerdos bonitos de esa época