Chris Polanco

Cristian De Jesus Polanco Alejo (陳杰) (born August 2, 1978) better known by his stage name Chris Polanco (陳杰), is an international singer-songwriter, music producer, multi-instrumentalist, touring artist, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his compositions and arrangements of Latin music including the hit single “龍舌蘭 Tequila” from the “LOVE” album. On 15 August 2022, he released his first Cantonese single with the song name《說不出的對不起》. Some of his other works include “Crazy 瘋了” and “Better Days 紙上的共融之歌”.
==Early life and education==
Polanco was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic, on August 2, 1978. He is the son of Ramón António Polanco and Agueda Mercédes Alejo. Chris grew up with four siblings: Jose Emmanuel, Leonardo, Fiordaliza, and Juan Carlos. He attended Pontificia Universidad Católicamente Madre y Maestra and graduated with honors in 1996, majoring in computer programming.
As a young teen, Polanco was introduced to his father’s friend from the neighborhood, and he was fascinated by his amazing guitar playing, especially with the fact that the man was visually impaired. He then borrowed the guitar, and it became the first instrument that he learned on his own. Belonging to a non-musical family background, Polanco self-taught all the musical instruments that he plays, including guitar, piano, keyboard, vocals, accordion, congas, bongos, timbales, djembe, drums, bass, ukulele, cajon, timpani, and minor percussion.
==Career==
The year 1994 marked the beginning of Polanco’s music career. At the age of 16, Polanco was invited to be the music teacher of a Catholic school in the Dominican Republic while his university studies were still going on. Nevertheless, Chris grabbed the opportunity and joined as a choir conductor, kick-starting his music journey.
After graduating from the university, Polanco started his full-time career in music, performing at private events and in prestigious hotels and clubs around the city. Thereafter, he moved to Hong Kong and embarked on his journey to bring Latin music to the city. In 2008, Polanco’s mentor, Maria Cordero, introduced him into the Cantopop music industry, and he has not looked back ever since. Chris has been featured in major music concerts, local events, recording sessions, TV shows, and movies.
In 2010, Polanco’s good friend Jun Kung recommended him to Eason Chan and Sandy Lam, after which he began touring with the two artists all over the world for 5+ years. The places Chris has performed include mainland China, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan, to name a few. One of Polanco’s most popular music arrangements is "Crazy 瘋了", a combination of Latin rhythms and Cantopop tunes.
The artists he has since then been collaborating with include, Eason Chan (陳奕迅), Joey Yung (容祖兒), Coco Lee (李玟), A-Lin (黃麗玲), Andy Lau (劉德華), Sandy Lam (林憶蓮), Justin Lo (側田), Jacky Cheung (張學友), George Lam (林子祥), Maria Cordero (肥媽), Kenny Bee (鍾鎮濤), Mark Lui (雷頌德), Jun Kung (恭碩良), Miriam Yeung (楊千樺), Wynners (溫拿樂隊), Edmond Leung (梁漢文), Bondy Chiu (趙學而), Kary Ng (吳雨霏), RubberBand, Janice Vidal (衛蘭), Jason Chan (陳柏宇), Mr., Gin Lee (李幸倪), Keung To (姜濤), Jonathan Wong (王梓軒),
and many more.
Polanco’s first CD album "Chris Con Azucar" was released in 2003. In 2011, Polanco released his second personal CD album, "My Music Road." Since 2012, he has been holding his birthday concert annually as a tradition to share music and laughter with his friends and fans. In 2018, Polanco released his hit single "Tequila 龍舌蘭" from the "LOVE" album, which was co-produced with Eason Chan and the DUO Band. He received an invitation from Being Hong Kong Media 就係香港 in the same year to be the singer and lyricist for the song "Better Days 紙上的共融之歌". 
In 2019, Polanco signed with Universal Music Hong Kong as their music composer. In 2021, he was featured on the TVB music programme "Music War Hall 演鬥聽" as a judge and guest.
On 15 August 2022, his first Cantonese single with the song named Thousand Ways To Say I'm Sorry《說不出的對不起》was released.
Polanco’s Instagram account has become an internet sensation over the past few months since April 2022 due to the interactive singing social campaign #JamWithPolanco. The original intent of the campaign was to encourage everyone to sing together, bring positive energy, and connect with each other during difficult times in COVID and quarantines. On his platform, a large number of individuals from various locations, backgrounds, ethnicities, and ages gathered to sing. Chris has been invited to several events, performances, brand partnerships, advertising, and more as a result of this campaign becoming one of the most popular trends on Instagram in 2022.
==Personal life==
In 1999, Polanco had his first and only son, Christopher De Jesus Polanco Luciano. Chris Polanco is fluent in Spanish, English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Portuguese, and Italian.
==In the media==
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==References==
==External links==
* Official website
* 
* Chris Polanco on Discogs
Category:1978 births
Category:Singer-songwriters
Category:Music producers
Category:Multi-instrumentalists
Category:Entrepreneurs