NEW YORK, NY (Top40 Charts/ Atlantic Records) Breakthrough multi-platinum Latin recording artist
Prince Royce, via a venture between Top Stop
Music and Atlantic Records, has entered into an exclusive, long-term, worldwide recording deal with Atlantic Records. Born in the Bronx, New York to Dominican parents, the 22-year-old singer/songwriter/musician has exploded into the mainstream with his fresh urban approach to the island's traditional bachata music, fusing Tropical Latin with contemporary R&B and pop rhythms.
Prince Royce's self-titled debut album, released in 2010, has been certified double platinum by the RIAA, while garnering a 2010 Latin Grammy nomination (for Best Tropical Contemporary Album), three 2011 Premio Lo Nuestro Awards, four 2011 Latin Billboard Awards, and has just received eight nominations for the 2011 Premios Juventud Awards, the most of any artist. Just last month, Prince Royce became the No 1 Latin album in the country, more than a year after its release, an unprecedented achievement for a developing Latin music artist.
"We are thrilled and honored to welcome Prince Royce into the Atlantic family," said Atlantic Chairman/CEO Craig Kallman, who, along with Atlantic Executive Vice President of A&R Mike Caren, was responsible for bringing Royce to the label. "He is bringing the vibrant sound of bachata not only into the dynamic world of contemporary Latin music, but into the pop and urban mainstream. It is only fitting that Royce scored his first hit with a boundary-crossing, bilingual version of 'Stand By Me,' the timeless Ben E. King song released by Atlantic exactly a half century ago this year. Royce is making timeless music for a new generation, and Mike and I, along with the entire Atlantic family, are looking forward to a long and impressive career from this enormously gifted young man. We want to thank our new partners at Top Stop, Sergio and Gregory, for giving us this wonderful opportunity."
Prince Royce, whose forthcoming debut Atlantic releases will include both Spanish and English language albums, was signed in 2009 to the newly formed Top Stop Music, co-owned by renowned Latin music producer Sergio George and Gregory Elias. "Royce is a true phenomenon who has already achieved unprecedented success in the Latin music industry," says Sergio George, "and Gregory and I are delighted to be joining with Atlantic Records to take his career to the next level. With his extraordinary charisma and talent as a singer, songwriter, and performer, he has taken bachata music to a whole new audience and created a style uniquely his own. Royce is not only inspiring a whole new generation of Hispanic youth, but fans across cultural and social boundaries. We are eagerly looking forward to working closely with Craig, Mike, and the entire Atlantic team."
Royce's debut album includes his tour de force first single, a bilingual bachata cover of the 1961 Ben E. King classic, "Stand By Me," which Royce had the honor of performing with none other than King himself at the 2010 Latin Grammy Awards. Royce's rendition of "Stand By Me" not only reached the No 1 position on the Billboard Tropical Airplay chart and ranked No 6 for overall Latin Airplay, but it became the first bachata song ever to be played on mainstream pop and R&B radio in the United States, while the companion video has been viewed more than five million times on YouTube alone - a phenomenal achievement for a new artist with their first single.
The album's second single, "Corazón Sin Cara," has fared even better, shooting up to No 1 on Billboard's Latin Songs chart, No 1 on the Tropical Songs chart, No 1 on the urban chart, and No 2 on the pop songs chart. Both songs have reached No 1 on the Tropical Downloads chart and the top five on the Latin Downloads chart. Alongside his remarkable chart success, Royce has already had two sold-out tours in Europe, one in the U.S., and has been invited by Enrique Iglesias to be a special guest on his fall 2011 tour of North America.
