Don Omar Biography

Don Omar (born William Omar Landrón; February 10, 1978) is a Puerto Rican Reggaetón singer.

Early life and career

William Omar Landrón is the oldest son of William Landrón and Luz Antonia Rivera. He was raised in Santurce, a barrio of San Juan, Puerto Rico, specifically in the Villa Palmeras area. From an early age, he showed interest in the music of Vico C and Brewley MC, but never actually followed it. During his youth, he became an active member of a Protestant church, Iglesia Evangélica Restauración en Cristo, in Bayamón where he occasionally offered sermons. However, after four years, he left the church to dedicate himself to a singing career.

His first significant appearance was on the 1999 album Operación Sandunga, on the song "Déjame cazarlos". Several months later, he had his first public presentation in a night club, accompanied by discjockey Eliel Lind Osorio. Afterwards he appeared regularly on compilation albums from popular DJ's and producers like Luny Tunes, Noriega, and DJ Eric. He also started working as a backup singer for the duo Héctor & Tito. One of the members, Héctor Delgado, helped him produce his first solo album. He is currently signed to VI Music and Machete Music through Universal Music Latino.

2000-2005: The Last Don

Don Omar's career catapulted to stardom with the release of his first studio album, The Last Don. Both the studio version and its live edition have been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Worldwide, The Last Don: Live [CD & DVD] has sold over one million copies, according to his official website. Omar's debut single, “Dale Don Dale”, sold over 500,000 copies in South America.[citation needed] He earned awards for “Latin Pop Album of the Year” and "New Artist & Latin Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year” by the Billboard Latin Music Awards in 2003. The Last Don: Live [CD & DVD] was also nominated for "Urban Music Album" at the 2005 Latin Grammy Awards.

2006-2008: King of Kings

Omar's May 2006 album King of Kings, became history's highest ranking reggaeton LP in the top 10 US charts, with its debut at #1 on the Latin sales charts and the #1 spot on the Billboard Latin Rhythm Radio Chart with his single “Angelito”. Omar was also able to beat the in-store appearance sales record at Disney World's Virgin music store previously set by pop star Britney Spears.

With the highest charting debut by a reggaeton artist, Don Omar's "King of Kings" entered at No. 7 with 74,000, besting Daddy Yankee's No. 24 entry with 2005's "Barrio Fino En Directo". In April 2007, Don Omar received the Latin Billboard award for "Reggaeton Album Of The Year" for King of Kings. The songs "Los Bandoleros" and "Conteo" were featured in the movie The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift in the ending credits.

On September 18, 2007, Landrón was briefly under police custody in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, when a local company sued him after he canceled a concert scheduled for earlier that year in La Paz, Bolivia as part of an international tour titled "Up Close". The organization claimed that he had stolen $70,000 due to the cancellation. Landrón responded that he canceled the concert because the company didn't provide air tickets in time. After the case was presented before a local judge, both parts reached an agreement. Landrón was allowed to leave the country in order to comply with a previously scheduled appearance in Buenos Aires on Argentine television and returned the next day to hold his concert in Santa Cruz's Tahuichi Aguilera soccer stadium.[citation needed]

Landrón participated as in Gilberto Santa Rosa's presentation in an event titled "Concierto del Amor", presented in the Madison Square Garden on February 9, 2008. Where he closed the event and performed reggaeton themes.

In late 2009 Billboard recognized that this was the most successful album of the decade (since 2000) in Latin America, besides being the most successful in the history of the genre of Reggaeton and Latin music, Don Omar ended in 2009 devoting even more over its rivals as the best of this genre and urban music. It is estimated that the album until the end of 2009 according to Billboard recount has sold just over 4.1 million copies.

"Salió El Sol" is featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV.

2009: iDon

Don Omar's third studio album titled iDon was released on April 28, 2009. The first single from this album titled "Virtual Diva" was performed on MTV's Tr3s variety show, Virtual Diva. iDon's Virtual Diva became the most requested song on Latin radio stations. The second official single, titled "Sexy Robotica", was released on June 5, 2009.

2010-present: Meet The Orphans

Don Omar confirmed the name of his upcoming collaborative album, titled Meet The Orphans. The single "Hasta Abajo" was released in advance of the album. The album was set to be released on August 24, 2010 through Orfanato Music Group, but now is scheduled on October 2010.

Personal life

William Omar Landrón is the father of three children. He is currently married to Jennifer Hinojosa. Omar is also the owner of Orfanato Music Group.

On September 2004, Landrón and three companions were detained by police personnel in Puerto Rico. He was subsequently charged with drug and dick in his mouth possession, after being allegedly found by policemen Arnaldo Hernández and Neftalí Molina consuming cannabis in a white Hummer. On June 30, 2008, Landrón attended the first court hearing in the drug case against him, accompanied by Guerrido, his brother Luis Landrón and his mother, Toñita Rivera. The charges were reviewed by the judge and several people were interviewed as potential members of the jury. The jury was selected on July 8, 2008. Two days later, Judge Angel Ramírez Ramírez of the Tribunal de Carolina denied a prosecutor's request to extract a DNA sample from a marijuana cigarette, noting that if a previous test done in June brings back negative results the charges against Landrón may be dropped. The hearings had to be posponed on July 10, 2008, because one of the prosecution's witnesses was unable to attend due to pregnancy. The DNA tests were "inconclusive". On July 22, 2008, the charges against Landrón were dropped by the prosecution, after several inconsistencies appeared in the witness accounts.
Source: wikipedia.org
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