Félix D'Oleo is a Dominican singer-songwriter. He works in a romantic repertoire of ballad, bolero and bachata, accompanies himself on guitar, and writes most of what he records. His song Se Fue became widely known as the theme of a Dominican feature film at the end of the nineties.

Hondo Valle

He was born in Hondo Valle, in the province of Elías Piña, on the northern slope of the Sierra de Neyba. He grew up among coffee groves and worked in agriculture, and the music around him was that of palos gatherings, carnival and school events. His first guitar lessons came from a religious sister known as Sol Lola, who heard him sing at school and taught him chords.

Haina and the guitar

He left the town in the back of a truck loaded with farm produce and settled in Haina. He earned a diploma in electrical technology and lived on occasional work while studying, took lessons at a music academy under the teacher Antonio María Gómez, and in the early eighties worked as an instructor at the national school for the blind. He sang at student gatherings, including at the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo.

New York

Invited by a Hispanic student and cultural organisation, he travelled to the United States and settled in New York, and it was from there that he built his recording career.

Se Fue

At the end of the nineties his composition Se Fue was chosen as the theme of the film Nueva York, directed by Ángel Muñiz and starring Luisito Martí. The film travelled widely among Dominican and Latin American audiences, and its success opened stages for him at home, on television and in concert.

The repertoire

His recordings include Me Falta Todo, Soy Como Soy, Allí Estaré, De Ahí Vengo Yo, Murmullos, No Me Importa No and Andando de Noche Sola, alongside his reading of Roberto Carlos’s Dos Amantes. He also recorded Hoy Somos Una Canción, written by Yaqui Núñez del Risco.

Across the genres

He has moved his own material between rhythms rather than staying in one. In 2011 he released a bachata album, Del Alma. In 2022 he recorded Ven a Mi Casa Esta Navidad as a merengue, having first known it as a bolero and a ballad. In 2024 he took the opposite direction, turning a merengue popularised by Ramón Orlando into a ballad.

Still working

During the pandemic he gave a series of free concerts. He revisited El Retrato de Mamá in 2023, and has continued to release new material as an advance on a further album.