Héctor Acosta (singer)

Héctor Acosta (singer)
Héctor Elpidio Acosta Restituyo, better known as Héctor Acosta "El Torito" (Héctor Acosta "The Little Bull") or simply Héctor Acosta, is a Dominican singer of Merengue and bachata music. Acosta was the lead singer for the Dominican band Los Toros Band (The Bull Band). They were mostly a merengue band who in the late 1990s started to perform bachata songs which would gain huge success. In the mid-2000s he continued as a solo artist and would gain bigger success with hits like "Me Voy", "Con Que Ojos", "Tu Primera Vez", "Me Duele La Cabeza", "Levántate", "Amorcito Enfermito", among others. Some of his hits have reached number one on the Billboard Tropical Songs chart. He has released seven studio albums in which three of them have been certified gold in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Early life
Acosta was Bonao, Monseñor Nouel, Dominican Republic on May 23, 1967. He is the song of Elpidio Acosta, a school teacher and Seferina Irene Restituyo. He is the oldest of two brothers. At an early age, he was involve in music as he was part of a church choir in his hometown. This would help him in his singing, even though he originally was trying to pursue a career in baseball.
In 1982, he participated in a voice festival contest by a local radio station named Novel Radio. He won first prize in the contest. This would eventually lead him to a career in music.
Career
Early career (1982-1989)
Acosta would form La Renovación Quisqueyana (The Quisqueyan Renovation/Renewal) along with members from the church choir he was apart of. This group had characteristics similar to another merengue group Los Paymasi. Two years later, Acosta left the group to join another group called Los Gentiles (The Gentle Ones), who were considered the most refined group in the city of Bonao at the time. In the late 1980s, Acosta would work for Dominican merengue band Los Hermanos Rosario (The Rosario Brothers). He work as a back-up vocalist and covered for one of its members, Toño Rosario, who at the time took a leave of absence due to legal issues. Also, Acosta's voice at the time resembled Toño's voice. He would eventually meet the band's manager Gerardo Díaz, known as El Toro (The Bull) who would eventually also become his manager as he would convince Acosta to be part of the band that would be known as Los Toros Band. Acosta would leave The Rosario Brothers to be the lead singer of Díaz's band.
Los Toros Band (1990-2006)
In 1990, Los Toros Band (The Bull Band) was formed and released their debut album Se Soltaron Los Toros (The Bulls Have Released Themselves). The album gained huge success on radio. On May 4, 1991, Acosta would officially start doing presentations as the lead vocalist and leader of the band and would start making appearances at concerts, parties, and on TV shows. Since then, they gained success with multiple merengue hits. Later on they would release bachata songs that would eventually establish the group to be seen as a bachata band as well, thus giving them international fame in the process. In 2006, he would depart the band to pursue a solo career. Prior to his departure there were issues between him and the record label Los Toros Records (The Bull Records), which was owned by Gerardo Díaz and his brother Juan Pablo Díaz. From late 2005 to early 2006, Acosta was in a legal battle to get out of his contract. Also, the group was not allowed to perform live or the record label would sue them. Eventually, an agreement was made and Acosta was no longer a member of Los Toros Band.
Solo career (2006-Present)
In late 2006, he released his debut solo album Sigo Siendo Yo (I Continue Being Me). Its lead single "Me Voy" ("I'm Leaving") was written by Romeo Santos and it peaked at number 48 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. In 2008, Acosta released his second album Mitad / Mitad (Half / Half) and it features a cover of Jorge Celedón's song "Sin Perdón" which became a number one hit on the Tropical Songs chart. In the same year, Acosta and Celedón performed a duet titled "Me Vió Llorar" ("Saw Me Weep") which also reached number one on the Tropical Songs chart. The album was certified gold by the RIAA for shipping 30,000 copies in the US. His next albums Simplemente... El Torito (Simply The Little Bull) (2009) and Oblígame (Obligate Me) (2010) were also certified gold for shipping 50,000 and 30,000 copies respectively. Oblígame received a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Tropical Album. In 2012, he released his fifth studio album Con El Corazón Abierto (With an Open Heart) and its lead single "Tu Veneno" ("Your Venom") became his third number-one single on the Tropical Songs chart. Acosta is considered one of Dominican music's greatest musicians.
Discography
The following is his discography list:
Studio albums
Sigo Siendo Yo (2006)
Mitad / Mitad (2008)
Simplemente... El Torito (2009)
Oblígame (2010)
Con El Corazón Abierto (2012)
Merengue Y Sentimiento (2015)
Este Soy Yo (2022)
Live albums
Tipico (2004) - J&N Records
Compilation albums
The Ultimate Bachata Collection (2010)
The Ultimate Merengue Collection (2011)
La Historia... Mis Exitos (2014)
Los Número Uno (2019)
DVDs
En Vivo (2008)
Una Noche Con El Torito (2010)
References
20th-century Dominican Republic male singers
21st-century Dominican Republic male singers
Dominican Republic male songwriters
Latin music songwriters
Merengue musicians
Bachata singers
Spanish-language singers
People from Bonao
Living people
1967 births