JON SECADA

Born: Juan Secada; Havana, Cuba, 4 October 1962

Genre: Latin

Best-selling album since 1990: Jon Secada (1992)

Hit songs since 1990: "Just Another Day," "Mental Picture," "Es Por Tí"

Acollaborator with Gloria Estefan, Secada stepped out on his own in the early 1990s and enjoyed a brief run as a pop heartthrob, presaging the subsequent "Latin explosion."

Secada's family immigrated to the United States in 1971, settling in Miami with hundreds of thousands of other Cuban exiles. Adjusting to his new country in the 1970s, Secada soaked up R&B influences from Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, and Marvin Gaye. He also enjoyed the drama-infused pop-rock of Billy Joel and Elton John.

He earned a master's in jazz vocal performance from the University of Miami and in 1989 began working with Gloria Estefan as a songwriter and backup singer. He co-wrote six cuts for her Into the Light (1991), including number one hit "Coming Out of the Dark."

Emilio Estefan, Gloria's husband and manager, helped Secada get a record deal. His debut CD Jon Secada (1992) keeps the Latin influences subtle but does incorporate Afro-Cuban percussion into the fiery dance-floor cut "Do You Really Want Me." In general, he tends toward R&B-influenced adult contemporary, as on his first single, "Just Another Day." The song bounces along with a metallic shuffle beat as Secada mourns a lost love with full-blast vocals that evoke shades of Bill Medley. The album produced three other Top 40 singles, briefly making Secada one of the country's hottest pop stars. His second single, "Do You Believe in Us," is cut from the same musical cloth while featuring more optimistic lyrics. Secada emotes into near histrionics on the ballad "Angel," tailor-made for prom-night slow dancing, and offers New Age feel-good advice on "Free," a gospel-tinged cut. Meanwhile, he made a bid for Latin success with the Spanish album Otro Día Más Sin Verte (1992), which contains some Spanish versions of tracks from Jon Secada and some Spanish-only ballads. It won the Grammy for best Latin pop album in 1992.

His follow-up album, Heart, Soul & A Voice (1994), emphasizes Secada's R&B influences more, especially on the sultry midtempo "Whipped." However, the album's biggest hits proved to be a couple of adult contemporary tracks that echo the groove of "Just Another Day": "If You Go" and "Mental Picture." He released the Spanish companion Si Te Vas and followed that with Spanish-only release Amor (1995). The return to roots did him good because he sounds more comfortable crooning polished, string-filled Latin ballads than he does performing as a pop-R&B moppet. The album won a Grammy in 1995 for best Latin pop performance.

Perhaps taking a cue from the success of Amor, Secada continues with string-filled, classy balladry on the Spanish-language Secada (1997). Though his commercial prospects continued to fade, he wrote songs for the late-1990s breakouts Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez. In 2001 he co-wrote "El Último Adios," an all-star Latin benefit song for 9/11 victims.

By the early 2000s he was still recording occasionally, but even a 2003 duet with his old mentor Gloria Estefan ("Por Amor") produced only moderate impact on Latin radio. Secada's successes as a performer have been sporadic, but he's made a major behind-the-scenes impact since the late 1980s as a key player in Emilio Estefan's Miami hit factory.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Jon Secada (SBK, 1992); Heart, Soul & A Voice (SBK, 1994); Amor (EMI Latin, 1995); Secada (Capitol, 1997); Better Part of Me (Epic/550 Music, 2000); Amanecer (Sony, 2002).

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