Henry García — Henry Hilton García Rosario, born in Santo Domingo on 13 September 1955 — is a Dominican singer and songwriter. He was the lead voice of Cuco Valoy’s orchestra in the late 1970s, when it sang «Nació varón» and «Cuatro personas», and has since led his own orchestra, sung with Ramón Orlando and Pochy y su Cocoband, spent decades as one of the busiest backing singers in Dominican studios, and written hits for other voices, among them «Me mata la soledad» for Tito Rojas and «En las nubes» for Manny Manuel.

Guitar lessons and La Barrica

He started studying music and guitar at fifteen. At nineteen he turned professional with the group of Julito Deschamps at La Barrica, a Santo Domingo nightspot, where he spent about a year sharing the stage with experienced players.

The voice of «Los Virtuosos»

On 19 February 1977 he joined «Los Virtuosos», the band Cuco Valoy had built in the seventies and that later took the name «La Tribu» after a tour of Panama. García became its main singer. «Nació varón» and «Cuatro personas», from the band’s third album, «Un momento... llegaron los Virtuosos», are still credited to his voice, alongside «Se fue Daniel», «La temperatura» and «Morina», and the orchestra took them on tour through the United States, Central and South America and Europe. In 1980 Cuco Valoy’s orchestra also recorded the first song García wrote, «Cuando te entregué mi amor».

His own orchestra and the Internacional

In 1984 he left to form «Henry García y Orquesta». The first album featured «Marcela», by Fernando Echavarría, and «Volverte a encontrar», one of his own. In 1986 he and Peter Cruz were the voices of Ramón Orlando, whose hits of that stage include «Lágrimas de amor» and «Cómo te atreves». He then went back to his own band for «El consentido» (1987), with «Hada madrina», and «Quédate ya» (1988).

The studio voice

Alongside his own records García built a long career as a studio backing singer and chorus arranger. His voice is on sessions for Juan Luis Guerra 4.40, Wilfrido Vargas, Sergio Vargas, Fernando Villalona, Rubby Pérez and Los Hermanos Rosario, among many others. From 1992 to 1994 he toured with Pochy y su Cocoband, and with it recorded «Salsa con coco» and his own «Corazón programado».

Songs for other voices

In 1990 the Puerto Rican salsero Tito Rojas included «Me mata la soledad», written by García, on his album «Sensual», and the song became an international hit. In 1999 Manny Manuel opened «Lleno de vida» with García’s «En las nubes», a record on which García also sang in the chorus.

Legacy

Henry García’s career runs through three of the central institutions of Dominican dance music — the orchestras of Cuco Valoy, Ramón Orlando and Pochy y su Cocoband — and through the studios where much of the country’s merengue was recorded. His songs have travelled furthest in other voices, and «Nació varón» remains the recording most closely tied to his own.